


Global Impact

by TakeFlight81



Category: Orange is the New Black
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternative Universe - FBI, Apocalypse, F/F, International Relations, Pandemics, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:21:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24809188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TakeFlight81/pseuds/TakeFlight81
Summary: Piper and Alex are at it again. A few other OITNB friends make cameos throughout as our ladies get busy trying to save the world...and on each other. Set in our modern day madness, Alex and Piper are on a mission to divert disaster, reconcile their fleeting past and look ahead to possibility amidst chaos. AU. M because they dig each other and cuss a lot. ;)
Relationships: Piper Chapman/Alex Vause
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	1. A Gray Sky Morning

**26 January, 2020 0200 AEDT**

The air hung damp and cold over the deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Chief Petty Officer McCullough drew the zipper on her windbreaker up around her jaw as she breathed in the salty night air.

Life on the ship could be consuming. Her shift was the overnight surveillance watch. It wasn't a popular posting but she didn't mind. She'd made a routine for herself over the last four months at sea. If she wasn't careful though, she could go days without seeing the sky or breathing air that hadn't been recirculated into the bowels of the aircraft carrier tasked with over watch of the Northern Pacific Ocean.

On that night, she took her "lunch break" the same way she had for several weeks - eating her meal quickly in the galley and then escaping to the quietness of the deck for 30 minutes to breathe.

She identified the star shapes she'd found every day of her life - or night of her life. She found solace in the fact that there, halfway around the world from her Midwestern American home, she could look up and find the same constellations she'd loved since she was a girl.

Taking one last inhale of the ocean kissed twilight, she descended quickly through the ship, stopping briefly to procure a sleeve of mini donuts for her superior. Having lost a bet earlier in the week, she took this opportunity to square with him. The ancillary perk of his improved mood would only bode her well in the second half of their nightly shift together.

She tossed the package over Senior Chief Petty Officer Luschek's shoulder as he adjusted his headphones. The two of them were responsible for monitoring radio chatter over several standard and covert channels in Chinese territory. They each covered four channels simultaneously, alerting the other to tune in to anything they heard that merited another set of ears.

Most nights held few to zero interesting moments but every once and awhile, they heard something worth noting in the log that got sent to the Master Chief each morning following their shift.

McCullough rolled her eyes as Luschek went to work on his powdered donuts, white sugar dusting the entirety of his khaki uniform shirt. She relieved the Second Class Petty Officer who was covering her lunch break, taking her place next to her boss and adjusting her own set of headphones over her ears.

They settled in for what promised to be an uneventful four hours. Luschek pretended to tackle the NY Times crossword on a paper that was easily two months old. McCullough reached for the romance novel she recently started and opened it to the page with the folded corner.

Her head tilted to the side quickly as her ears honed in on the frequency controlled by her second dial.

"Boss, bring up 1350," she tapped the monitor with her pen as she straightened in her chair.

Turning his dials to match his counterpart's instructions, he quickly initiated a recording of the frequency. After only a few seconds, he picked up a receiver and made a request he'd never made in his countless hours in charge of the radio room: summoning the Master Chief in the middle of the night.

Three minutes later, the highest-ranking officer aboard the vessel entered the radio room slicking his thinning hair back with a cheap black plastic comb.

"This better be good, Luschek. I was in the middle of a very steamy dream involving my high school sweetheart and a can of Easy Cheese."

Luschek rose to salute the Master Chief, his face pale. "I think you need to hear this, sir."

Caputo donned the extra pair of headphones while Luschek cued the recorded conversation from several minutes earlier. Caputo's countenance visibly shifted over the course of the three-minute recording Luschek had translated from Mandarin.

"You're sure this translation is accurate, Senior Chief?" The intensity of his eyes left no room for levity or jest.

Luschek met the gaze with confidence, "I would bet my life on it, sir."

"Fuck me." He turned to his subordinate, "Get me the President. Now."

**27 January, 2020 1500 EST**

She'd spent her last day at Quantico packing up her few belongings from the dorm-like room she'd called home for the last 16 weeks and exchanging numbers and email addresses with the few people she had connected. Finally, she found herself rounding out her afternoon in the gym.

Taking her stress out with gloved fists at a heavy bag was her happy place. Though she wasn't necessarily anxious about leaving for her first placement the next day, it would undoubtedly be a big change and her thoughts about it needed an outlet. Combinations of jabs and crosses gave her just the medium she needed to release her simmering angst.

She'd spent the entirety of her adult life in school pursuing a PhD in Chemical Engineering. Every moment of her days had been consumed with that goal. Her time was structured around it. Her decisions were made in light of it. And as soon as she achieved it, she spent a grand total of 46 hours between walking across the stage to receive her diploma and packing up for FBI field training in Quantico.

"Who you hitting today, Vause? The Easter Bunny? Hit it like you mean it!" Nichols' voice taunted from the edge of the mat.

"Did you want to jump in for the rabbit, Jackass?" Alex doesn't break the rhythm of her fists on the bag.

"Nah, I'm just wrapping up. You coming to the Burrito House after this?"

Dropping her gloves to face her friend, she took advantage of the interruption to steal a few sips from her water bottle, "Yeah I'm gonna be another 45 though, easy."

"I'm gonna clean up and then we'll head over. I owe you a beer anyway," the bushy redhead raised a half wave as she turned out of the doorway.

"Or ten." Alex resumed her punishment of the bag with renewed fire at her friend's good-natured teasing.

She had always been exceptionally smart, though not always as dedicated to traditional expressions of her brilliance. Halfway through her junior year in high school, an acquaintance introduced her to the nuances of chemical composition in a less than legal capacity. She cooked crystal meth in her garden shed and was damn good at it. Alex had been impressed with the process and even though she was never into the stuff, she was drawn to the precision required to come up with a pristine product.

That turned her on to Chemistry overnight and before she knew it, she was graduating with honors from NYU and had been accepted to a graduate program to pursue her passion.

She'd always been fascinated with forensics, which is where her doctoral thesis centered. When she applied to the FBI earlier that year, she had zero expectation to even receive a response, let alone be accepted. The professor who had encouraged her to apply never had a doubt, though. She was young, brilliant, and had all the right credentials lined up behind her name. Not to mention a glowing review from one of the most prestigious graduate schools in the country.

"Miss Vause." A sharp, unfamiliar voice filled the nearly empty gym with what was more a statement than a question.

Turning quickly, Alex straightened at the sight of a female uniformed officer flanked on each side by men in black suits with ear pieces coiling down the sides of their necks.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm Alex Vause."

"Your presence at your next posting is required immediately. Please collect yourself and your belongings and meet me at the Director's office in ten minutes."

Alex immediately understood this was not a request so she skipped verbalizing the litany of questions formulating in her mind and stuck with, "Yes, ma'am."

Gloves and wraps landed haphazardly on her gym bag as she strode past her locker to the showers. She tossed the sweaty pile of clothes in the same general direction and rinsed quickly as she tried to harness the thoughts swirling in her mind.

Something big was going on - or something was wrong. She was supposed to leave at 0700 tomorrow for her first actual job at a forensics lab in Chicago. It was supposed to be a pretty straightforward gig - provide data and clarification on evidence submitted by the field officers there in the Chicago office.

Alex was excited to be able to spend time in the lab all day and help solve some mysteries with the power of science. She was also excited to have some autonomy over her schedule for the first time in years. She'd been on a mission but that commitment had meant sacrificing her free time and essentially letting someone else tell her where to be and what to do every day. She was ready for the personal freedom that a 9-5 job afforded. Hell, maybe she'd even have time to go on a date.

Completing the field training was just a formality - a basic requirement for all employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It had been fun to "play army guys" for four months but that wasn't ultimately part of her life plan.

She was a brain girl through and through, though she wasn't unhappy with the physical results of the field training. Her body had always been a head turner but after four months of intense training and a newfound love of boxing, she really liked what she saw in the mirror.

She didn't have time for self-admiration now, however. As she threw on the gray tank and black warmup sweats she had arrived in, she bolted out of the gym and down the hall to her room. Since she already had everything packed up for her departure, throwing her phone charger in her duffle was the only thing she needed to do before making her way to the Director's office near the front of the complex.

She grabbed her FBI jacket, slung the lanyard of her brand new badge over her neck, and closed the door to her room for the last time.

**27 January, 2020 2100 EST**

The kettle sang urgently from the stove, tearing her attention away from the novel in her lap. Under duress, the physically exhausted woman rose from the warmth of her spot on the sofa. She had quickly melted into the comfort of her couch and briefly battled the urge to stay there in favor of getting up to fix the tea that had sounded so good only moments before.

Content to stand against the kitchen bench while the leaves steeped, she let her mind recap the events of the last week. She'd given the keynote address for a high profile academic conference held on her home turf. The Global Summit for Preventative Healthcare focused this year around the preparedness of the world at large for a pandemic-level outbreak.

The top medical minds from around the globe descended upon Johns Hopkins University to discuss and strategize the best way to prepare a planet for what was, in many expert minds, an inevitability. As the woman spearheading the most cutting edge immunology techniques the world had to offer, Dr. Piper Chapman was the obvious choice to keynote this topic.

Her approach had always been contentious. Her philosophy was grounded in the belief that the human body was designed to withstand and combat threatening viral and bacterial opposition with minimal outside interference. While her counterparts flocked to the traditional approach of designing a vaccine for every ailment under the sun, her research broke decidedly from the pack and focused on the proactively building latent immunity in human physiology.

Her research was compelling. Her results were undeniable. The strides she was making in global health were record-breaking, particularly in the realm of underserved members of developing nations.

Chapman took the approach that each community had access to natural, underutilized compounds that would strengthen local immunity and hedge out common sickness among people groups. She championed the idea of empowering people where they were, using what they already had instead of relying on a manufactured, outside cure to be brought in. Education was a huge part of her agenda, as was the belief in listening to and observing the healthy people in an area to learn from them first before attempting to teach them blindly without context.

The work was difficult and came with a truckload of obstacles from language barriers to governmental red tape. Dr. Chapman took it all in stride, tackling the roadblocks head on with poise and dignity that left her naysayers speechless at nearly every turn.

This simultaneously made her both a hero and a target. There was big money in pharmaceutical drugs. Her commitment to teaching people instead of drugging them was a big problem for the industry that peddled those drugs. Her _success_ in educating people was an even bigger one.

The conference had been a resounding success…and she was beat. After returning to her Baltimore townhome several hours prior, she had gone through her standard routine of winding down after big events.

Long soak in her Jacuzzi tub, tomato soup and grilled cheese delivered from her favorite cafe just around the corner, and now her favorite chamomile steeping as she prepared to settle in with the rare treat of some reading that didn't somehow revolve around the health of the human race.

Satisfied with her tea, she carefully poured the steaming liquid into her favorite mug and moved back toward her final destination in the living room. A quick knock at the door required her to detour. She wasn't expecting anyone. She pulled her robe tighter around her waist as she opened the door.

"Permission to clear the premises, ma'am." A direct but kind voice met her from the secret service member standing at her door.

As she stepped to the side with her arm outstretched in a welcoming gesture, she smiled and said to the man, "Sure, Charlie. Do your thing."

The rest of the small crowd accompanying Agent Charlie Dawson filed in and scattered quickly through her residence as she waited with two more men stationed by the door.

Now finished with their task, the four agents who had performed a sweep of her home briskly descended her front steps and escorted the two occupants of a black SUV quickly inside.

Piper sat her hands squarely on her hips, her gaze landing curiously on her unexpected houseguests.

The familiar face of the President's Chief of Staff began the conversation apologetically, "Dr. Chapman, I'm sorry to turn up like this so late. The President needs to speak with you urgently." He stepped to the side to make way for the most recognizable face in the world, which happened to smile softly at the woman before him.

She returned the smile and moved toward the President of The United States, enveloping his midsection in a tight embrace, "Hi Dad."

Piper Chapman hadn't always had a close relationship with her father. Growing up, the Chapman kids fended largely for themselves. Even through most his campaign for the Presidency, Bill Chapman did himself few favors to garner the respect from his own family that he so desperately sought from his voter base.

Over the last six years, he had been working diligently to reestablish his role in his children's lives. He confessed to them that the ship of his impact on them as a father had sailed, but that if they were willing, he would like to try again - this time as a friend and confidant.

Piper was the most receptive to his efforts. Now, nearly six years later, she smiled up at him with admiration in her eyes. "To what do I owe the honor of this visit?" She asked with a knowing intonation that given the time and nature of his arrival, it couldn't be good.

"Honey, I'm afraid we have a situation," the President began. "I know you've been working your tail off this week and probably just want to get to bed. Unfortunately, that's not in the cards for you tonight. This simply can't wait.

Piper made eye contact with her father, "Do we need to leave immediately?"

At this point, Frank Griffin, President Chapman's Chief of Staff, chimed in. "Sir, given our timeline, I think you should brief Ms. Chapman in the car."

"For God's sake, Frank. If you don't start calling me Piper, we're going to have a serious problem," Piper eyed Frank, smiling but serious. Her father raised his eyebrows and gave Frank an almost imperceptible nod.

" _Piper_ ," he enunciated awkwardly, "How soon can you pack a bag?"

**27 January 2200 EST**

Alex absorbed the breathtaking view of the eastern seaboard lights out of the chopper window. She had been briefed, (if that's even what you call it) quickly in the Director's office before being whisked off in a military helicopter with the woman she now knew as Captain Warren and her two black-suited sidekicks.

She had no information on where she was going except that it was classified. She also knew that she wasn't flying from Virginia to Chicago in a helicopter. She said nothing on the flight even though she wore a headset, mentally preparing as much as she could with the shred of information she had to go on.

Not knowing exactly what to feel, Alex chose instead to focus on the facts. Whatever was going on, it was big enough to merit a sudden and immediate change to her assignment. It was classified, which could really mean anything so that didn't give her much. She felt important, though. Whoever decided she was the person who needed to be retrieved from Quantico by helicopter thought she was the woman for the job – whatever the job was.

The chopper's sudden descent quickly pulled Alex from her thoughts. They landed on the roof of a warehouse just north of what she recognized from the air as Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Upon disembarking from the chopper, the small herd shuffled her toward a rooftop door and the four of them descended flight after flight of stairs until Alex lost count of the steps. She was completely unprepared for what she encountered as they finally exited the stairwell.

The room looked like something from a movie: High tech, transparent screens filled the middle of the room displaying maps, blueprints, and diagrams of various kinds. A raised platform occupied one corner of the room where people who looked more "in charge" surveyed the goings on of the main floor, which buzzed with frenetic energy.

The fluorescent lights overhead cast an unmistakable blue tint to everyone's skin. _Whoever designed this room obviously never heard of natural light_ , Alex internally mused. Low hums of hushed conversations punctuated by the persistent clacking of several dozen keyboards created the room's soundtrack. Their entrance went unnoticed by every person in the room except one.

A short man dressed in a military uniform approached them as they entered the room, ushering them along the side wall and down a short corridor to a large, glass walled conference room. He held his hands out toward the chairs, "Please, sit down. Dr. Vause," Alex's head swiveled sharply at the mention of her name. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

Startled to be singled out among the group, Alex cleared her throat and responded with a voice that she hoped sounded more confident than she felt, "Water, please." The man nodded and disappeared through the door they had just entered.

Alex noticed the two men who had escorted Captain Warren and herself were flanking the door behind her as they sat stiffly at the conference table. The silence in the room was thick and awkward. No one spoke and Alex was beginning to get the feeling she was the only one in the room who didn't know why she was there.

Moments later, the door opened and a tall man strode in authoritatively. He was dressed in black trousers and a white oxford that had long since been unbuttoned at the collar and rolled at the sleeves. He sat across from the two women and introduced himself, looking directly at Alex. "Dr. Vause, I'm Deputy Director Tate Crawford. I run the FBI field office here in Baltimore. Thank you for coming." He lowered his head to the folder in front of him.

Alex couldn't stop the scoff from escaping her throat. He made it sound like she had a choice in the matter. Crawford's head shot up to meet Alex's eyes. They didn't falter under his gaze. "Will you explain why I'm here?"

She could tell he wasn't used to being questioned, but Alex knew she wasn't in trouble and was quickly tiring of the feeling of being kept in the dark. She interlaced her fingers over the table and raised her eyebrows, waiting for a response.

Crawford closed the folder on the table, leaned forward and folded his own hands to mirror the woman's posture. "Last night one of our surveillance ships in the Northern Pacific intercepted a covert Chinese communication that leads us to believe the Chinese are in possession of a novel biological compound."

His eyes scanned the face in front of him before continuing. "We believe they intend to weaponize it to use against an unidentified human target within the next 14 days. You are here as part of an elite task force assembled by the office of the President of the United States to identify this compound and advise on courses of action to prevent and mitigate the spread of a biological weapon. As part of the larger task force, you will be working primarily with our lead Immunologist along with our senior lab technician to accomplish these objectives. Any questions?"

Alex took in the information and was having trouble connecting some of the data points. She tilted her head to the side and responded, "Yes, I do." The man across the table from her leaned back in his chair.

She continued, "I'm sure all my questions will be answered when I meet the team. When will that happen?"

He stood quickly, indicating his time in the room was coming to a close. "Agent Bennet will escort you to the team now. Dr. Chapman will provide you with a detailed briefing of all pertinent information."

Alex let out a long breath as she stood and turned toward the door. Her thoughts began to fire rapidly, _Chapman…lead Immunologist…surely he can't be talking about Dr. Piper Chapman, could he?_ Alex had read several of her papers. She was fringe and that was putting it lightly. One thing was certain, this was going to be a very interesting night.

Agent Bennet stepped forward, "Right this way, ma'am. I've arranged for your bags to be taken to your room three floors up."

Confused, she looked to Captain Warren for clarification. "We're here indefinitely. I hope you're not overly attached to daylight."

Alex tried not to be obtuse as she rolled her eyes at the realization that she was stuck in this glorified bunker until they figured out how to save the world. She muttered to herself, "Fucking perfect."


	2. So You Sailed Away

Her father and his Chief of Staff brought Piper up to speed on a 45 minute car ride from her actual home to what she now assumed would become her temporary home for the foreseeable future. She had the bird's eye view: Chinese. Bioweapon. 14 days. In other words, "Big fucking problem."

Piper had always aspired to be a perfectionist. In her personal life, her efforts to be calm and methodical rarely resulted in the smooth sailing she hoped for. In short, she was a relational train wreck.

Her propensity toward the dramatic and short fuse spelled disaster for any and all romantic opportunities that came her way. She lived in a fairly constant state of volatility with her mother; they were more alike than Piper ever cared to admit. Even her best friend had learned to give her a wide berth during her moments of rash decision making, faithfully coming along when the dust settled to help her pick up the pieces of her latest explosion.

Her work was the one place she could actually accomplish order and predictability with any level of consistency. Her profession required her to be measured and calculated, never proceeding without a clear scientific conclusion supported by a foundation of data. The pressure of such a catastrophic deadline was daunting.

She was used to high stakes situations. She was not used to accelerated timelines. Her research and methodologies centered on the organic development of solutions over the long term. This requirement of basically, "Figure it out – and fast" was footing upon which she felt unsure.

She knew there was a distinct possibility that this assignment may demand she formulate answers without all the information. She may have to act before she had time to gather all the facts. She may be forced to go with her gut, which has never worked out well for her. It all seemed overwhelming and a familiar twinge of panic crawled up her spine.

Her father sensed her anxiety rising as he sat beside her, watching the thoughts scroll manically over her face and hearing her breathing increase. He opened a bottle of water and extended it to her, taking her hand in his. He quietly encouraged her. "Piper, there is no one I trust more to help figure this out than you."

She accepted the water and drank it slowly, willing her lungs to fill and expand between sips. When her heart rate returned to a more conversational pace, she turned toward her dad. Her voice was low and shaky at a volume only he could hear, "This could be the next fucking plague, Dad. I'm going to give this everything I've got but you need to make sure mom and the rest of our family is somewhere safe now. Somewhere this thing can't touch them if the worst-case scenario actually happens."

Bill Chapman held his daughter's eyes with his for several moments. He nodded and squeezed her hand, "I'll make sure of it, honey."

Satisfied, Piper nodded in return and turned her attention out her window for the remainder of the drive.

* * *

The motorcade's arrival at the warehouse was met with minimal fanfare considering it included the President of the United States. The small group was escorted straight to the lab in which Piper would work with two other women. One of them was already pounding away at a keyboard when she and her father entered.

A small, African-American woman up as the door opened. She may have been expecting to see Piper's face, but the presence of her father threw the lab tech off guard. "Mr. President," she stammered and straightened in acknowledgement.

"Ms. Washington, it's a pleasure to meet you. I do wish it were under better circumstances but nevertheless. I've been informed of your talents and assured that you're the very best we have for the task at hand," Bill Chapman extended his hand toward the woman. "We're counting on you."

Washington nodded slightly. "I serve at the pleasure of the President."

Her father turned toward her, ushering her forward into the center of the room, "This is Dr. Piper Chapman. As you may know, she's my daughter. She's here on her own merits, though. No one is better suited to spearhead this team. She will lead the effort here."

Washington stepped forward, stretching out her hand toward Piper, "It's an honor, Dr. Chapman. I've followed your work for several years. Huge respect."

Piper smiled kindly, "Thank you, Ms. Washington. We have a big job ahead of us. I understand we're waiting on one more?"

As if on cue, the Chief of Staff stepped forward, flipping open a file folder to consult his notes, "Yes. Apparently Dr. Alex Vause has just arrived and is being briefed in the conference room just down the hall as we speak."

The President looked at him with a disapproving frown, "She doesn't need to be down the hall, Frank. She needs to be here. Go get her."

Frank was out the door in a flash. He returned almost as soon as he left. Relief and apology mixed on his face as he announced, "Right this way, Dr. Vause."

Piper had read the report on this Dr. Vause on the car ride over and was impressed. Her work in compounding chemical substances was noteworthy, not to mention the accolades she brings from her recently published doctoral thesis on the impact of autoimmune interference on microbial replication.

The next few seconds passed quickly for everyone in the room but Piper. She'd experience that kind of freezing of the proverbial clock only two other times in her life. Neither of those moments could Piper recall without a twinge of residual pain. They weren't pleasant memories. This feeling…this pausing of the passage of time did not flood her with positive vibes.

It first happened when Piper was 12 at the winter formal dance. She left to use the restroom and when she returned to the gymnasium-turned-dance-floor, the cheap strobe lights tauntingly illuminated her boyfriend making out with her best friend smack in the center of the room. It was middle school but that didn't make it any less humiliating. If anything, the inherent awkwardness and social landmines of that age made it feel _more_ humiliating. It was her first real boyfriend and in hindsight, he probably didn't even really count but at the time he was her whole world. Time stopped in that moment when she first felt the cruel slash of heartbreak.

She felt it again four years ago just when her caller ID read "Mom" at 3am. There were fearfully few reasons for her mother to call in the middle of the night – not one of them was good. The sinking sense of dread mercilessly wrenched her from sleepy fog even before she said, "Hello". That was the morning her favorite person died. Her grandmother had been the only solid ground in her childhood, understanding her when no one else could and listening to her ramblings when no one else would. Time stopped in that moment when she first felt the soul-swallowing power of loss.

Suddenly, Piper found herself frozen a third time when the woman they had been waiting for strode purposefully through the door. Her head was tilted slightly down as she entered but when she snapped it up in preparation for introductions, her stick-straight swath of black hair shifted over a shoulder belonging to a body Piper _would_ never forget. Time stopped in that moment when her gaze met the sparkling emerald eyes she _could_ never forget.

The _knowing_ screeched silently between the two women. The corner of Alex's lips rose almost imperceptibly for the briefest flash. If Piper's eyes hadn't been helplessly fixated on that magic mouth, she would've certainly missed it.

Piper knew she had zero time or latitude to react to this ruthless recognition that threatened to betray her poise in the moment. She let out the shaky breath she'd been holding and clasped her hands in front of her to still their trembling. She subconsciously demanded her face comply and quickly harnessed her expression into the realm of professionalism as the cosmic stopwatch clicked time into motion again. The doctor's shining eyes broke loose from Piper's hold as she scanned the rest of the room.

When her gaze met the President's, her shock must have taken possession of her mouth. "Holy shit." It was out before she could stop it and her face reddened instantly. "I'm so sorry… Mr. President…"

Piper gave her father the quickest of glances, opening her eyes wider and looking toward the embarrassed doctor, silently begging him to say something to soothe her mortification.

Bill Chapman extended his hand and met the eyes of the woman before him, "Welcome to the team, Dr. Vause. No apology necessary. I know this is a lot to take in. I trust you've been briefed?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. I've been assured you're the person for this job. You're in excellent company with these two," he motioned toward his daughter and Washington. "I won't take any more of your time, ladies. It's time to get to work. Dr. Chapman will report directly to me."

The last comment was made as much to Frank as it was to the rest of the team. With it, Bill was giving his daughter unfettered access to him at any time as well as clearly establishing her as the authority in the room upon his departure.

A trio of, "Thank you, sir," rang out as the President and his entourage exited the room, leaving the three women standing awkwardly in the center of the lab. Piper wasted no time taking charge, "Ok, we're going to be working in closer proximity than any of us are probably used to so let's get a few things out of the way right off the bat."

She looked between her two counterparts and asked as she pointed to the door, "To everyone out there, we will refer to each other by our titles and last names but in here, please call me Piper. How would you prefer I address you?" Her eyes met Washington's first.

"My name is Poussey, but you can call me Washington if you want. I'm good either way."

"Nice to meet you, Poussey," Piper responded before turning her attention to the startling set of green eyes set squarely on hers.

"I'm Alex."

Her voice was notably deeper than it was during her fumbled exchange with Piper's father. She had clearly regained her composure and was ready to get down to business. Piper acknowledged the skin prickling on the back of her neck at the brief introduction and intense eye contact but quickly moved past, painfully aware of her priorities.

"Hello, Alex," Piper responded, extending her hand instinctively. Even as the name formed on her tongue, Piper felt her vision shift sharply before returning to the woman in front of her. It was like a jump cut between scenes – she felt like she was 23 again and no time had passed. When their hands met, Piper fought the urge to recoil before she realized the fire she felt in the connection was inside her body, not out. "I'm Piper."

Alex's head tilted just barely as she hummed in response, "Hm."

She cleared her throat in a thinly veiled attempt to casually break eye contact with Alex as she continued, " I know I'm technically 'in charge' here but again, in this room we're all on the same page. Nothing is off limits. If you have an idea, speak up. We can't afford to pussy foot around each other's titles when the stakes are this high. There's no totem pole here."

Poussey chuckled and Alex's jaw tightened at Piper's choice of terminology. Piper couldn't help but smirk a little before moving on, "Let's all make sure we're up to speed with the current status before outlining a game plan." She turned to Washington. "Poussey, where are we?"

* * *

Alex took tremendous pride in her ability to land on her feet, roll with the punches, and stay cool when the heat turned up. However, in that moment she was holding it together by a thread. Other than accidentally cussing at the most powerful man on the planet, she felt confident in her poker face. But she needed some fucking air – and she needed it right fucking then.

Washington was giving the rundown of what they knew in a much more helpful and detailed way than Crawford had but Alex felt like her head was underwater and struggled to process much of what she was hearing.

She straightened in front of the wall of monitors facing the trio. On the LED wall, Washington was referencing information, scrolling through pertinent documents and zooming in on lab data with all their known facts on the compound. She was referring to it as the "virus" given the molecular structure they had been able to piece together based on intelligence.

When Alex's ears began to register words like "molecular structure" and "atomonomical map", she knew she was likely missing key pieces of information in her current shaken state. "I'm going to stop you for a second. I need…where's the bathroom?"

"Two doors down on the left," Poussey answered as she tucked the tablet she was using to control the monitor wall under her arm.

"Thanks. Be right back."

She focused on long, controlled breaths as she walked. Alex swung the door to the handicap stall with much more force than it required and covered her mouth with her hands as she backed up against the wall. Fragments of a well-worn memory clamored rapidly to the front of her mind as she slowly counted backward from ten in an attempt to gather her composure.

Not ten seconds later, she heard the door open. She silently prayed, "Please God, do not let that be…"

"Alex?" A familiar voice called.

 _Fuck_. No sound accompanied Alex's mouthing of the word. She straightened, fixed her expression back to neutral and grasped the handle of the stall door. When she opened it, she was face to face with Piper Chapman.

After making another searing eye to eye connection, Piper pointed her finger back and forth between herself and Alex and asked, "Is this gonna be a problem?"

* * *

_I saw her on the dance floor. She moved like water. Smooth, subtle, and so damn sexy. I could tell she was tipsy but no one could move like that and be TOO drunk. I figured she must be right at the sweet spot where inhibitions lose their voices but every other faculty is still pretty much behaving._

_I danced closer to her trying to confirm that she didn't have a partner. She smiled and waved occasionally at a group of girls sitting near the bar but none of them were in the dancing mood, I guessed. She didn't flinch when I put my hands on her hips from behind; she just kept on in her hypnotic rhythm in perfect cadence with the bass thumping into the New York City night._

_The song ended and I took her hand, walking toward the crowded bar. I pulled her in front of me and slid my hand across the small of her back as she sat up to the bar facing me. When she crossed her legs, her sinfully short skirt rode up even higher to reveal that devastating line down the outside of her thigh. She must be a runner. I didn't sit down, choosing instead to stand just in front of those unreal legs. The bartender interrupted my eyefucking rudely, "What'll you have, ladies?"_

_When our drinks arrived, I was just settling in to one of my favorite ways to pick up beautiful women. "I know how to cook crystal meth, I can name every African country and it's capital, and I can make you come harder than you ever will with your boyfriend."_

_I smirked at her open mouth. And God, what a beautiful mouth it was. I let my eyes linger on her lips for several obvious seconds before taking a sip from my high ball and meeting her eyes again. "I'm Alex, by the way."_

_She must have realized her jaw was nearly touching the bar. She snapped it shut and stirred her margarita slowly, buying time and presumably deciding how to respond to my game. When she raised her glass for a sip, she narrowed her eyes at me while her tongue gathered salt from its edge in an exaggerated, deliberate attempt to kill me where I stood. I took another sip of whiskey to aid my suddenly dry mouth._

_With her drink settled back on its coaster and her tongue safely back behind her teeth, she finally spoke as a devious smile curled her perfect lips, "Ok, I'll play. My name is Penny, I'm happily straight, and I'm not wearing any underwear."_

_I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my mouth. This was going so much better than I ever expected. "That's not how the game works, kid. It's pretty self-explanatory. You only get one lie."_

" _Are you calling me a liar?" She looked seriously offended for a moment before I stepped closer, moved her top knee off of it's perch and slid my hand swiftly between her legs._

_I whispered directly into her ear as my middle finger connected with exactly what I expected to find in the heat at the center of her thighs, "Your mouth says you're straight, but your pussy disagrees." I drug my finger up the length of her slit, coating it with evidence. I moved my face so we were eye to eye and put my finger in my mouth, sucking it slowly as I pulled it out and touched it to her parted lips. "And your name's not fucking 'Penny'."_

_She kissed me fiercely, devouring my lips and tongue while pawing at my face. I broke for air when I started to see stars and took her hand again, this time leading her out the door and across the street, silently thanking everything that I had a room so close._

_We kissed and groped each other shamelessly all the way up the elevator and down the hall before falling through the door of my ninth floor room. I pinned her to the vanity counter just inside the door and pulled her skirt up over the rise of her hips. The sight of her perfectly maintained French wax made me lick my lips as I hit my knees. I pulled her right leg over my shoulder and went to work._

_She was so wet already that I took my time licking and sucking the insides of her thighs before moving higher. She writhed desperately under my tongue, the movements of her hips far less controlled than they had been on the dance floor but every bit as sexy. "God, Alex…" She moaned out the rest of whatever that sentence was going to be and ran her fingers roughly through my hair._

_The way she tasted reminded me of the margarita she ordered not twenty minutes earlier. I smiled into her center and replicated the slow, devious movement of her tongue on the rim of her glass against the edge of her opening. She was quickly melting into a moaning mess above me. "Fuck m…Jesus, Alex…please…"_

_I could already tell this was going to be the first round of a long night so I didn't make her beg. I gave her three fingers and covered her clit with my mouth, moaning into her when I heard her cry out and felt her walls hug against me immediately. "So tight, aren't you…and so fucking wet."_

_She bucked her hips hard against my hand and I knew she was close when I curled my middle finger inside her, mirroring the movement with my tongue against her clit. The sound that came out of her mouth was difficult to identify in the moment but later, I decided 'shriek' was probably the closest word I could come up with._

_I repeated that move three more times before her body stiffened and my name fell in a chanting repetition from her lips. When she settled, I looked up to see her arms braced against each wall of the alcove, chest still heaving slightly and her hooded eyes looking down at me kneeling in front of her._

" _Tell me your name."_

* * *

Alex looked her square in the eye before smirking and raising an eyebrow. "No _PIPER_. 'This'," she copied hand gesture between the two of them, "is gonna be just fine."

She brushed past Piper, making her way to the sink. She hadn't even used the toilet but needed something to occupy her nervous hands. She'd yelled so many questions into the ether over the years. They suddenly exploded like fireworks filling her head but she didn't let a single one cross the threshold of her lips:

_Why the hell did you leave?_

_Do you have someone waiting for you?_

_Didn't you feel that?_

_Don't you want to see where this goes?_

_Has anyone ever made you feel this way?_

_How did you make me feel this way?_

_Do you know you're the best I've ever had?_

Instead, Alex looked at her through the mirror's reflection and asked sincerely, "Is this going to be a problem for you?"

She looked small all of a sudden…shy. The starkness in contrast between her authoritative front in the lab and this flash of vulnerability stopped Alex in her tracks. She stepped forward. "Alex…I…"

Alex turned away from the reflection to meet her eyes without interference. "Piper, look. I never thought I'd see you again and I admit…this is…it's a lot."

The look of sadness that flashed across Piper's face was unmistakable. "God...I'm sorry this is how we met again. But also…"

Alex tilted her head slightly, having no idea how the sentence would end but hanging on every word.

"…I'm not sorry. I've regretted leaving like that for eight years." Her eyes were full and even though they were cast downward, Alex could see the pain they held. "Even if this happened just to give me the chance to apologize, I'll take it. I'm really sorry. I should have handled things differently."

Alex was stunned. Piper's words were nothing even close to what she expected. She couldn't help but think there was a lot more to Piper's side of the story that she didn't know…that she _wanted_ to know. During a bonafide crisis was clearly not the time to have a deep and meaningful conversation about their personal lives but part of Alex knew it was probably going to happen anyway. She reached out to touch Piper's arm. "I'm good. We're good."

Piper looked at her with a childlike questioning that she couldn't resist smiling at and asked, "Really?"

"Yeah, kid. Really. Let's go before Washington thinks we bailed on her."


	3. Remembering The Girl

**28 January, 2020 0200 EST**

Special Agent Poussey Washington let her body free fall to the mattress in her temporary third floor home. She had been with the Bureau for three years and had yet to be part of this caliber of emergency. There had been some pretty interesting cases for sure, but she'd never been required to actually stay at the housing there on the FBI campus. These rooms were specifically for high stakes situations where agents needed to be pretty much on call 24/7.

It was far from the quality of hers at home but it wasn't a terrible mattress. She was dead tired. After briefing Alex and Piper, the three of them had gone straight in to creating three different outbreak models in which they outlined parameters for the virus given their current intelligence and mapped the forecasted spread and rate of transmission.

The three of them worked remarkably well together, especially given the fact that they were essentially strangers. Washington quickly realized these women were the real deal. They were both sharp as razor wire and any hesitations she had around working with someone fresh out of Quantico were resolved in short order as soon as Alex started talking. Aside from the semi-rocky start with the President and what she thought was an awkward exchange of glances between Vause and Chapman, things were off on a solid footing.

They agreed to part ways for a few hours of sleep before regrouping at 0800. Washington knew she should try to sleep as much as possible but her head just wouldn't settle until she called home for at least a few minutes. She'd left the house in a rush that afternoon after stopping there to throw some clothes and essentials in a bag. Her girlfriend wasn't usually home during the day but she had a work party to attend that night and had taken off early to change.

Poussey was able to fill her in briefly on what to expect for the next few weeks and at least kiss her before backing out the door with a string of "I love you's" and blown kisses to her lady. She knew Chantel would be asleep but wouldn't mind being woken up to hear her voice. She also didn't know when she'd be able to call again so she took the opportunity and pressed '1' on her phone face.

"Baby?"

The sleepy slow voice stretched a smile over Poussey's tired face. "Hey you. I don't wanna keep you long but I'm just laying down and wishing it was next to you. How was the party? I'm sorry I had to bail last minute. I'm sure you looked edible."

Chantel responded in a still half-awake chuckle, "You know I did."

"Tell me you didn't wear the…"

"I wore the red one," her woman confirmed.

"Damn, girl. You know I can't handle the red one. It's probably good I wasn't there. I'd have definitely NOT been safe for work." The two women shared a few more laughs before reminding each other of their love and ending the brief call.

Even the tempting thoughts of her girlfriend in that sinfully short red number couldn't keep Washington's exhausted brain from drifting off to dreamland for a precious few hours.

**28 January 0730 EST**

Alex hated alarm clocks. Until the last few months during her FBI training, she had relied on the near-Swiss accuracy of her body clock to wake her between 5:50am and 6:10am every day. Quantico had well and truly fucked that system in the ass and now she had to wake up to the shrill stress of her phone's beeping.

While she wouldn't exactly say she felt rested, the brief sleep had done wonders for her head. Seeing Piper again had definitely thrown her. But she didn't have much time to over think what the unexpected reunion could mean once the details of this assignment began rapidly surfacing.

They'd worked half the night on models and forecasts. The situation was far worse than Alex could have ever predicted. If the Chinese were successful in their goal to release a virus with potency anywhere close to what they were preparing for, the world would stop in its tracks.

She spent the next thirty minutes trying to empty her brain. Her shower/dress/quick makeup routine had become almost a meditative space for her. Especially in the face of looming problems or puzzles with elusive answers, Alex found that intentionally emptying her mind made her much more effective at finding solutions than endless ruminating over the details and data.

When she was in the lab, she was consumed with the task at hand but she knew herself well enough to insist on and intentionally make space for her process when she was feeling stuck. When she walked through those doors, she wanted to be firing on all cylinders.

She ran the flat iron quickly over her hair, anticipating another long day. She left her usual blazer and jacket over the back of the desk chair in what was essentially a hotel room. The chances of her leaving this facility in the next two weeks were slim to none. She tried not to let that fact make her feel too claustrophobic and gave her head a quick shake, rolling her shoulders back. She was ready.

Alex grabbed her phone and a granola bar from the basket on the desk and headed out the door. The slow churn that had begun low in her belly last night returned with a vengeance as she pulled the door of her room closed behind her and came face to face with its instigator. "Piper…Hi."

* * *

The responsibilities of leading a team like this required Piper to file several extra reports after their work the previous night. As a result, she was nearly thirty minutes later in the lab than her counterparts and was unaware of the proximity of her room to Alex's until they found themselves facing each other in the hall. "Hi. You look…rested," she offered with a shy smile.

Alex returned the smile but didn't respond to the awkward complement. "Sleep well?"

The small talk was forced. They had done a lot of things in their brief history but making small talk was not one of them. "I did. Thanks." Piper tried to keep the stiffness out of her voice but she couldn't help the flood of memories that assaulted her revolving around the last time she walked down a hall away from a room belonging to Alex.

She had learned a lot about herself that night years ago. Until then, she had considered herself fairly in touch with her inner workings, what made her tick, who she was. One night with Alex had turned those sureties hopelessly on their heads. In many ways, Piper had woken up that night.

She learned she was powerful – that she could command another's body in ways that made the earth shake under them. She could level another person completely with her kiss and her touch. She could bring one to their knees - not just in a sudden, jerky sequence of grunts and moans but in a rush of pleasure so overpowering it took minutes of deep breathing to slow both beating hearts to normal again.

Piper discovered she loved how it felt to be touched by a woman. Sure, she had a few drunken girl on girl experiences in college but this was different. This was a depth of connection unlike any she had ever known. Everything was softer but also surer. Alex touched her as if she had been touching her for years. She found every sliver of skin that made Piper's eyes roll in her head and even showed her a few new ones.

She came seven times that night, a feat she had previously thought impossible or at least unadvisable. The bar Alex set for her subsequent sexual experiences was laughably unreachable. No one since had ever come close.

They fucked quick and rough several times. But there was a distinct point in the night where the vibe in the room shifted into something deeper. Neither woman acknowledged it verbally but Piper could tell from the change in Alex's pace that she felt it, too.

They slowed down and studied each other's faces, sharing lingering gazes for dangerously long stretches. Piper saw the tiny flecks of gold buried in the green of Alex's eyes. She'd never looked a partner in the eye as climax tore through their bodies before that night. It was the definition of 'union' and Piper knew she left part of her soul in those emerald caverns.

She learned that she liked…no _loved_ the taste of a woman on her tongue. She loved the feel of a woman in her mouth. She loved the sound of a woman giving herself over to the deepest of physical pleasures. And she loved being the one who held a woman recovering in the wake of ultimate satisfaction. She wouldn't fully realize it then but over the next several years, she came to understand that it wasn't just any woman that would suffice. Only one face filled her mind when she considered these loves – it was always Alex.

Piper also realized if she could feel this deeply in a few hours with a stranger who didn't even know her name that her year-long relationship, in which she had never felt even a shadow of what she did that night, was well and truly over. She returned to her Baltimore apartment the next day and promptly broke up with Larry, the safe guy. The normal guy. The great-but-not-great-for-her…guy. Something had broken loose in her that night in New York and she couldn't go on with life as usual pretending like it hadn't.

She wasn't a brave person but she also wasn't a stupid one. Alex might have been a one-night stand but for Piper, that night stood for the moment when she realized she was unwilling to play it safe anymore. She didn't know fully what that meant but she did know it wasn't what she was doing with Larry.

When Piper quietly closed the door of Alex's room and left the sleeping beauty in the glow of the Manhattan sunrise, she whispered the only words that seemed appropriate for all the lessons she'd learned, "Thank you."

* * *

Alex walked just behind Piper down the hall and into the elevator. She pressed the button and resumed her place just over Piper's shoulder. Though it was extremely difficult, she resisted the instinct to touch the small of her back as the elevator doors opened. She leaned back against the side rail, crossing her arms. She bit the side of her lip to try and hide her amusement at her fidgety elevator mate but she was internally enjoying watching Piper struggle. The ride up was silent but the air between them was thick with words unsaid.

When the doors opened, Piper bolted out of the carriage as if it were on fire. Alex chuckled to herself and straightened off the wall. _Here we go._

Washington was already clacking away at her keyboard when they entered the room. "We have some new intel from the Roosevelt," Poussey spoke without looking up from her screen. She changed the settings on her display so what she was seeing on her screen was also displayed on the monitor wall. "They managed to intercept some technical specs on the compound."

Alex's eyes bored immediately into the data before her. They darted back and forth between lines and over graphs, her brain processing and analyzing at a pace that would put most actual computers to shame.

"I need to get these variables integrated into the model to see how it impacts our projections." Her eyes kept returning to a curious line on the screen. Something wasn't adding up.

Poussey handed Piper a file folder with the highlights of their current status. "You have a call with the President at 1300 hours to give a status update. I think we need to prepare him for the worst and work our way backward."

* * *

The team worked on their respective areas fairly silently for several hours. Piper was spending as much emotional energy trying to stay focused on the task at hand as she was mental energy on the task itself. She lost count of the number of times she caught herself glancing over at Alex. Once, she snapped out of a daze watching her fingers move deftly over her keyboard. Another time, she tried to mask the stare straight into the side of Alex's head by shifting her eyes up and to the left, pretending to be lost in thought about something other than her stunning profile. Perhaps most frustrating was the fact that Alex seemed to really prefer working in a standing posture rather than sitting down. This required her to bend over her workstation _constantly_ , creating a devastating display of her ass that Piper couldn't seem to avoid – not that she was trying very hard.

Ultimately, Piper physically turned her desk chair toward the wall of monitors and buried her head into the printouts in her lap so she could maintain her train of thought for longer than a few minutes at a time. Finally, she was finding her flow.

Piper put down the pen she had been scribbling with for a good thirty minutes and spoke suddenly, startling both of the other women. They all came together instinctively to collaborate on the answer to her question. "How are they going to distribute this virus?"

She stood from the counter-height table covered in papers and reports. Her left hand massaged her temples and her right rested on her hip as she began pacing back and forth, concentration etched on her face. "We know this virus is not airborne so that eliminates the use of HVAC or wind transmission. In order for this to spread rapidly enough to get out of hand, they would have to have access to a lot of people in a limited physical space."

Poussey looked up from her laptop and crossed her arms. "Airplanes, train…any form of public transit, really."

Alex was still deeply focused on the legal pad in front of her. "Alex!" Piper directly addressed her.

Snapping her head around at the mention of her name, Alex responded in surprise, "Distribution of liquid-based molecules means people have to actually touch each other or touch surfaces where the virus can live. We don't know how long it can live on a non-biological host without more data so let's focus on what it would look like if ten infected people boarded the subway and coughed or sneezed on everyone in a six foot radius."

Piper was shocked at the suggestion. She hadn't even been convinced Alex was listening, let alone that she already had a strategy for modeling the data. Not only was her answer incredibly insightful, her intelligence was undeniably hot. Piper cleared her throat and held her hands out in front of her in an unspoken invitation for Alex to go on.

With a few quick keystrokes on the desktop machine they'd been using to create 3D animation modeling the possible spread of the virus, Alex sent the new calculations to the LED wall for everyone to see.

"Well fuck." Poussey shook her head. "That transmits the virus to the international terminal in the airport in a whopping 36 minutes. From there, all bets are off."

Piper set her jaw. "Where are we on vulnerable populations and those with immunity?"

Poussey consulted her tablet. "We just don't have enough data yet to confidently make those projections. The outcomes of Alex's simulations will give us a better idea."

Piper turned to Alex. "The numbers are crunching. I should have answers in…" She looked at the progress bars on her screen's readouts, "84 minutes."

Piper shook her head, "That's not gonna be done in time to make it into the President's briefing. Can you speed it up?"

"I don't know what to tell you. This is one of the fastest computers on earth. An unknown compound requires comprehensive scans through basically every molecular marker we have on file. It takes as long as it takes."

This was not the answer Piper was looking for. She appreciated Alex's straightforward response but it didn't help her at all. She tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice but knew she failed as soon as the words left her lips, "So that's a 'no'."

The stress of the morning was obviously getting to Piper as she walked to a makeshift desk in the corner of the lab, "I'm gonna write this up. Washington, tell me when the call comes through."

* * *

The afternoon passed quickly for the three women. Alex was deep in the recesses of her mind working through some of her data points when the growl that came from her empty stomach wouldn't let her work any longer. "Holy shit. What time is it?" _Had she eaten lunch?_

Piper put her pen down and rubbed her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. "Time to go to bed. But I have to eat something first."

Alex looked at the corner of her computer screen and laughed out loud at the thought of sitting in this same room for the last thirteen hours with barely a break to hit the bathroom. "It's fucking 9pm."

All three of them were feeling the shortness of the previous night. "You guys like Thai?" Washington asked as she pulled out her phone. Two tired heads nodded without bothering to speak. "I got it."

Twenty minutes later the door opened and one of the agents from downstairs at the front entrance dropped off two brown bags that smelled so amazing, Alex thought she might actually drool.

"This place is the jam. My girl and I take out from here at least once a week." Washington smiled as the other two women visibly perked up at the promise of sustenance. She tossed a sleeve of plastic cutlery to each of her counterparts before digging into the bags.

"Sticks?" Alex asked as she tossed the plastic to the side. Poussey turned to her and raised her eyebrows.

"O...KAY!" She enunciated the word in feigned surprise and amusement, "We got a purist here, Dr. Chapman!" She found a pair of chopsticks at the bottom of the bag and tossed them in Alex's direction.

Piper smiled at the exchange. Alex caught the sticks in front of her face and bantered right back, "Hey. If you're going to do it, do it right."

The three of them dug into dinner. "Fuck, this is good, Washington," Alex was the first to speak. She was fully enjoying the contents of her noodle box until the sound of moaning to her left stopped her mid-chew. She snapped her head to the sound and couldn't stop a smile from creeping over the entirety of her face. She would know that moan anywhere, though her previous experience with it was in an entirely different context.

Piper's eyes were closed and she was REALLY getting into her dinner. Alex and Poussey looked at each other and smiled. "Get that, Chapman. Don't hold back," Poussey teased, garnering a grin in response.

"This is just…so good," Piper closed her eyes again and made several more sounds of appreciation. "Damn good." She took another bite and turned her attention to Poussey. "How long have you and your girlfriend been together?"

Poussey looked up at her, seeming surprised at the question. "Um…18 months. Did you…is Chantel in my file or something?"

"You said you and 'your girl' order from this place once a week." She held up her container of food. "I guess I just assumed. I'm sorry…I just…" Piper's propensity for tripping over her own tongue was on full display as she tried to backpedal.

A look of realization dawned on Poussey's face. "Oh yeah…I did say that, didn't I?" She smiled and continued, easing Piper's fear that she might've overstepped. "No it's all good. A mutual friend introduced us and it took me all of four minutes to fall head over heels for her. I was a gonner."

"Well, if your taste in women is anything like your taste in Thai food, she's a winner." Piper smiled and dropped her fork into the empty noodle box.

"Washington, you're in charge of all food. Hope this isn't your only ace." Alex pointed at her as she finished the last bite from her container and stood. "I'm heading up."

"I'll walk with you," Piper rose and stretched her arms fully out to her sides. "I don't think I've fully stood up since the briefing. Poussey, you coming?"

Washington dropped the crumpled brown bags into the garbage can and shook her head, "Nah, I'm waiting on one more thing to wrap up. I'll see you guys in the morning."

Alex nodded. "Thanks for the food. I'll get tomorrow's."

Poussey lifted her chin and smiled. "Yeah ok…I'll pick a pricey place then."

Alex shook her head, smiling as she held the door open for Piper to walk ahead. This time, her hand was halfway to it's destination on the small of Piper's back before Alex realized what she was doing and raised it toward her own head instead, rubbing a phantom knot in her neck. She hoped Washington's attention had already returned to whatever she was working on and chose not to look back for confirmation. _Jesus, Alex…what the fuck?_

* * *

Piper immediately noticed the difference in proximity between she and Alex on this elevator ride. This morning, she had leaned against the rail; tonight, she stood agonizingly close for the brief three floor trip. Piper's arms were folded in front of her chest, her guarded posture betrayed helplessly by her refusal to move away from Alex. She felt the outsides of their arms almost touching and when the elevator stopped, it shifted just enough for the two to connect briefly.

She had caught Alex staring at her twice today, which Piper thought was significant given how much of the day Alex appeared intently focused on the screens and printouts before her. She spent hours in her own world, muttering calculations to herself and taking the end of her pen between her teeth. Piper had never been jealous of a writing utensil until today.

The first time was when she left to brief the President. She knew she'd been short to Alex about the time it was taking to gather numbers she wanted to have for her father and she felt bad about it. That was the only reason she turned briefly in the doorway to look at Alex on her way out. When she did, Alex's eyes were squarely on her ass.

The second time was over dinner. After she moaned over her meal a few times, she saw the way Alex's jaw clenched at each sound. She could see that her reactions to her food were creating reactions of a different kind across the table.

When Poussey started gathering their empty containers and putting them back into the paper bags, Piper's eyes found Alex as if they didn't have a choice. This time, those green eyes were on her mouth. When a smile curled the edges of Piper's lips, Alex blinked away and stood quickly.

As the two exited the elevator and walked down the hall, neither spoke in spite of the rapidly building sense of anticipation Piper was sure she could cut with a knife. Alex took the keycard that opened her room door from her pants pocket and swung the door open before turning around to look at her. "See you in the morning. Same time, same place?" She smiled and Piper felt her belly flip.

She only managed a smile and a nod before fumbling with her own key. She inserted it into the door but the light flashed red. "Shit," she turned the card and tried it again with the same result. "You've got to be fucking..." she muttered to herself as she tried the card several more times before feeling Alex's body press behind her and Alex's hand covering her own shaky fingers.

"You ok there?" the already deep voice had dropped a full octave in the time it took her to cross the hallway. Her question was barely a breath into Piper's ear and the brush of it landing on her neck raised every hair down her spine. She felt Alex's other hand low on her hip, pulling Piper ever so slightly against the front of her body as she slowly took the keycard into her own hand. She turned the card once and inserted it into the slot on the door. Green.

Piper was frozen in place, breathing shallow and quick as she registered the feeling of fingertips pressing into her hipbone. Alex turned the door handle and pushed it open as she stepped to the side away from Piper and held the card out to her. "These things can be tricky."

She snapped out of her trance, grabbed the card and stepped quickly inside. "Thanks," was all she could muster as she looked at the woman still holding her door.

"'Night." The smirk Alex gave before dropping her hand from the door was enough to ignite every fiber of her being as she collapsed onto the bed. This was going to be a long two weeks.


	4. I Say Your Name Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've affectionately titled this The Alex Chapter. While not exclusively her POV, this one is a lot of our favorite bespectacled beauty. Enjoy ;)

Alex was physically exhausted but the current buzzing through her mind upstaged the nagging weariness she felt. The chemistry between she and Piper was palpable. The exchange at the door of her room could have easily led to a kiss, and likely much more.

As much as she hated to admit it, Alex was torn. In any other imaginable circumstance, she wouldn't be here right now. She would be across the hall chin deep between those long fucking runner's legs. She would be having her way with Piper and not giving it a second thought. But she had hesitated. She had walked away and now she needed to figure out why.

As she went through her nighttime routine, she tried to wind her thoughts down and organize the chaos in her mind. She bent over the bathroom sink and pulled a warm washcloth over her bare face. When her reflection stared back at her, she put her hands down on the counter, set her jaw and weighed the scenario she found herself in.

Two options presented themselves fairly quickly: She could wait. She could reel things in, curb the intense stares and smoldering near-touches, and get through the next two weeks focused on the job she was called here to do. After this crisis passed, she could pursue whatever connection obviously still existed between the two of them and go from there. That was the responsible thing to do. It was the clear choice.

Alternatively, she could double down her game; - spin a web so irresistible, Piper would be powerless to resist and fly right to her. The only thing Alex was better at than solving the mysteries of organic chemistry was getting beautiful women naked. She could bring her A game to both. What fun was being responsible, anyway? Besides, if this virus went sideways, this could be the end of the fucking world as she knew it. If everything was going up in smoke, at least she could have the best sex of her life a few more times before cashing in her chips.

A slow smile took over her face as her eyes focused back on her own reflection. _Was there ever really a question?_

She shed her bra and pulled her hair down from the tie that held it for her face washing. She generally slept naked but since arriving in Quanitco, she had taken to a tank and boy shorts just in case something unforeseen would happen during the night. This decision proved wise about three weeks into her field training when an evacuation drill shook her from sleep at 3am. She saw more dudes in their skivvies that night than she EVER cared to see in her life.

The three novels she brought with her peeked out from her duffle bag on the floor, reminding her that a few pages always seemed to calm her racing thoughts before bed. She opted for historical fiction, rationalizing that her present reality was enough crime/mystery/thriller without reading about it as well.

Alex settled in to the bed. It was softer than she expected given the setup. She'd been so exhausted the previous night that she hadn't taken the time to notice. Thoughts of a pair of deep blues tugged at the corners of her mind as she ran her hand down the title page, creasing it against the spine. She found herself reading the same paragraph a third time before snapping the paperback shut and tossing it on the bedside table.

She closed her eyes and let out a resigned sigh. Her awareness settled on the positioning of her hands. After rejecting the book, her left had found its way to her forehead while her right rested over the ridges of her stomach. She curled her fingers gently over the bottom edge of her tank top, abs flexing under the shivery softness of her own touch.

Her body might've been responsibly tucked in to her own bed but her mind had snuck across the hall like a horny teenager throwing pebbles at her crush's window after curfew. She stayed there stroking the sliver of skin between her tank's hem and the elastic of her underwear until the rising heat she felt several inches lower beckoned to her hands.

She thought her neighbor might be the type to wear an actual set of sleepwear – one that was probably overpriced and unbelievably soft. The buttons of the shirt probably opened easily and when it hung agape over her chest, it probably brushed against her nipples just enough to stiffen them at the sensation.

Alex moved her hand over the outside of her underwear and traced lazy lines between the waistband and the lower hems of each leg. She ran her other hand slowly through her hair, pulling it into an occasional fist every time her lower hand crossed the centerline of her thighs.

She exhaled loudly as her mind's eye caught that same soft fabric proudly snuggling up against the dip under Piper's navel. That innocent stretch of skin Alex had so recently been caressing on her own body seemed much less innocent now. It drew her like the moon summoning the tide, begging for fingers and lips and tongue.

Alex knew what Piper looked and felt like naked. She knew what she sounded like in her most unguarded moments. The way those long legs instinctively tightened around Alex's waist when her fingers sank in deep, the soft curve between ribcage and the rise of her hip that trembled under Alex's tongue, and the bounce of tiny breasts jumping in cadence with Alex's powerful thrusts, and the wordless dialect that poured from lips when she surrendered to her body's ultimate release…Piper was the definition of 'unforgettable.' She may have only spent one night actually touching Piper, but she'd spent countless nights like this one since, touching her again in fantasies, touching herself to the memories.

Her slim fingers slid between elastic and skin, hovering over herself, ready to release the pressure she'd been creating over the last few minutes. She toyed with her outer lips, pulling them teasingly and pushing them together again. She moved her left hand over her neck and down her chest to find her nipples stiff and screaming for attention. She tended to them with familiar fingers.

Truth be told, Alex didn't often touch herself; she didn't need to. If she wanted sex, she knew how to get it. This didn't change the fact that she knew exactly what her body responded to.

She liked it rough on her nipples. She knew a small measure of pain heightened her pleasure there. Pinching was nice but rolling the tender flesh between two fingers and a thumb was the bulls eye. She knew she liked a little teasing against the edges of her pussy – enough to make her wet with anticipation but too long left her frustrated and annoyed. She knew she needed to be filled. Nothing did it for her like intermittent pressing against her front wall.

Pressure on her clit was always good but she much preferred the pressure surrounding it. Tongue, fingers – she loved either moving in strong circles around that delicate and delicious spot.

Her fingers found their stride swirling around her clit several times before sinking into the wet heat between her legs. She drug her flat palm over her breast, causing the tender flesh there to stretch and pull before taking the nipple firmly between her fingers.

After rolling several times in tandem with the thrusting of her other hand, she released the hold on her breast and sunk both hands beneath her shorts. She gathered her wetness and brought it up to her clit, drawing agonizing circles and flicking her middle finger over the screaming knot of nerves as her hips furled into her other hand like a flag in the midnight breeze.

Her breathing grew shallow as every thought in her mind converged on a singular sound. She'd heard it so many times over the course of that night in a Manhattan hotel room. It came from a set of lips she could barely tear her eyes from all day. It wasn't the word as much as it was the voice. And it wasn't just the voice, it was the _way_ she said it. It was the desperation, the longing, the wanting in it that drove Alex straight over the brink of pleasure.

It was Piper, saying her name over and over again.

Alex's body seized and curled over the mattress. Her voice escaped her throat in grateful gasps and delighted moans. She fought to continue the motions with her hands and extend the surge that ripped through her body like a tidal wave. Every sound that came from her mouth was unintelligible but one. Her clamped eyelids shot open as the moans in her mouth clarified into a satisfied word. A face. A name.

_Piper._

**29 January, 2020 1250 EST**

Piper's eyes were burning. She knew she needed to be drinking more water and it may be time for a break from her contact lenses. She wondered if her glasses made it into the bag she hastily packed.

If it hadn't been for one of the administrative assistants bringing a fruit tray and bagels in at 9am, she wouldn't have put more than coffee into her system simply due to the pace of the day. Forgetting to eat was not something Piper normally experienced.

After the shared moment between she and Alex over the room key the night before, Piper decided to avoid her as much as possible. She was here to try and save the world for God's sake, not hook up with one of her co-workers. She had left her room fifteen minutes earlier that morning in a successful attempt to miss Alex in the hall.

By the time Alex arrived in the lab, she was already heavily absorbed in the task before her and barely noticed her walk in. Alex had nearly brushed agsinst her several times walking by over the course of the morning but she'd forced herself out of a reaction. The little conversation that transpired between them was quick and all business. Even when she got up several times over the course of the morning to refill her coffee, she kept her eyes directed down at the task at hand.

Poussey and Alex left the war room after lunch and were spending the remainder of the day in the chem lab analyzing the virus on a molecular level. It was just as well; Piper needed all her faculties focused in order to cover the ground she needed to.

She'd spent the morning pouring over demographic data from the World Health Organization and the UN. She was familiar with much of the data given her day job. Today though, she was looking at it all through a very different lens.

She prepared for this afternoon's briefing with the President from a standpoint of defense. She wanted to identify the world's most vulnerable populations in terms of infection rates and intensity of the virus in the cases themselves. Many regions were much less equipped to deal with a highly transmittable contagion for several reasons.

Population density was the primary factor – when people live in closer proximity to each other, keeping a safe distance is difficult. This was just as true in New York City as it was in New Delhi. Modern infrastructure didn't automatically grant a pass in this case.

Access to hospitals was another factor. If sick people couldn't travel to get to help, death rates would increase faster. This impacted the remote and developing regions more heavily.

Median age also played a huge role in determining how vulnerable a region was to an aggressive virus. All the intel they had received thus far indicated that this virus behaved similar to others – it was much more dangerous for older people or those who's immune systems were already compromised. Countries that had a higher percentage of older people among the population would comprise much of the demand for medical support.

Piper sat in a fifth floor conference room waiting to be patched in via video conference to the Oval Office. At this point in the effort, her job was to present data and information, not recommendations. She knew at some stage, she would be called upon to give her opinion on the courses of action proposed by her father's advisors but that wasn't today.

Today, she would brief her dad and the Secretary of Defense on everything she'd put together that morning. He would want a full report on his desk by the next day. She had a good high levelhigh-level picture of the situation but knew it would take her the remainder of the day to drill down and fill in the gaps before she was ready with a comprehensive analysis.

As much as she appreciated the chance to get out of the lab and just breathe for a few minutes, she was itching to get back. She didn't mind stopping for the briefing but it wasn't where she really wanted to be. It was part of being the team lead so she didn't dwell too long on what she could be accomplishing without the break in her rhythm. Piper enjoyed the responsibility of that role but she still preferred working heads down in the trenches to the bureaucracy that being 'in charge' brought with it.

"We're ready, Dr. Chapman," the other agent in the room with her put down the phone receiver and clacked a few keystrokes onto the computer in front of him. Her wandering thoughts dissipated as the screen in front of her flashed several times before connecting her with the President. He was mostly business but Piper caught a glimpse of the tender smile that flashed over his features ahead of his greeting. "Piper. Talk to me."

* * *

They'd been sifting through lab reports all day. When Alex returned from the bathroom just before 6pm, Washington was tapping quickly into her phone. "Chapman says she's still buried and she's gonna finish her report from her room. I guess it's just you and me for dinner, Vause!"

She had been very aware of Piper's elusive behavior that morning. She barely looked up from her computer screen in four hours, Alex made several attempts to get her attention, passing closer than necessary when she walked by Piper's workstation and twice directly asking her a question related to the most recent intel. Piper had given more attention to her coffee than she had to Alex. Before she knew it, lunch had come and gone and Alex hads started to feel invisible. Since she and Poussey had been out of the war room all afternoon, it had been a very disappointing day for web-spinning.

They were making good progress on the viral analysis, though. Since that was the actual reason for her being there, Alex figured that should count as a win. There were several data markers that just didn't seem right to her, though. She ran the same sequence of tests several times just to be sure all the parameters had been set correctly. They were.

Still, she couldn't get her head around the fact that although this compound was naturally occurring, she couldn't determine where it came from. There were no synthetic markers in the analysis, which meant it wasn't created in a lab somewhere. It grew in nature but she couldn't figure out where.

She had a few more scans to run but they wouldn't be done until mid morning the following day. "Are you texting Piper?" Alex asked Poussey as she tapped a few instructions into the laptop for one of the scans.

Washington didn't look up from her phone. "Uh-huh."

"Put her number in here. And yours too, while you're at it," Alex slid her phone across the table to Poussey. "Is there a gym in this place?"

She was starting to feel the effects of the built up tension in her body. Part of that was due to being stumped on the origin of the virus. Another was Piper's behavior that day. But not having worked out at all for the past three days was a big contributor, too – and that one, she actually could do something about.

Poussey slid the phone back toward her with a nod. "Yep, 2nd floor. It's not huge but there's enough in there to get you sweatin'. Feeling stiff?"

Alex wasn't in the mood to discuss her physical state so she shrugged and opted for a closed response. "It helps me think." She turned her attention toward her hunger. "What's for dinner tonight?"

**29 January, 2020 1900 EST**

Alex found her way to the gym easily after dinner. She was at an impasse in the lab since all her scans were in progress and her next steps depended on their outcomes, so she'd taken the opportunity to get a workout in and told Poussey she'd see her the next morning.

The facility wasn't actually that bad. There were a few treadmills and stationary bikes along the wall as she walked in. Straight ahead was a fairly decent spread of free weights, a pull up frame and a dip station. When she looked to the left, she was surprised and excited to see a heavy bag hanging alongside a speed bag. _Fuck, yeah_.

Not knowing what caliber "gym" she was walking into and if it had shower/changing space, Alex had thrown her hair up and changed into a sports bra and running shorts in her room. She brought her gym bag without all the shower stuff.

Alex was the only one in the medium sized room but she did hear several male voices coming from behind the door marked "Lockers". She started up a treadmill and took a light jog to warm her body up and get the blood pumping. Soon after, two guys who had obviously just been lifting came out the door. They both looked at her and were obvious about checking her out on their way out of the room. She didn't even try to hide the eye roll as she increased the speed of the machine to a faster clip.

After five minutes, she dug into her bag for wraps, gloves and AirPods. Alex generally tended toward a laid back taste in her music, but when she was hitting the bag, she picked from a selection of hip-hop playlists without fail. She liked the aggression and the power she felt listening to that genre. This time, rappers from the late 90's provided the soundtrack for her fists.

She wrapped her hands and shoved them into her gloves before rolling her neck and wind milling her arms in big circles. She walked up to the speed bag and began to hit it at half speed. Every one of these kinds of bags was different so this one's specific feel took a little getting used to. Once she had familiarized herself, she doubled her pace and let her mind go.

_What the hell was up Piper's ass today? Last night, she could barely string a sentence together; she was so flustered by the keycard thing. She was putty in my hands and today she barely looked at me? I should just see how she is tomorrow and if it's a repeat of today, I'll shelve it and focus on this virus shit._

She felt her shoulders heat up and sweat begin to form on her forehead. She shifted her feet and switched away from her strong side. _One more song, then the heavy bag._

Her triceps were feeling the burn as the bag bounced angrily off her gloves. Redman's _How High_ faded to a close and Alex crossed the room to the water fountain before returning to give the heavy bag her attention.

Normally, she would think through a basic structure and work in 3 minute rounds with a minute rest in between but she didn't want to think that hard. She tore into the bag, punching for power and release.

She circled the bag throwing every combination she loved in rapid succession. When she felt like puking, she stopped and let her heart slow. Then she went again. She needed to get the pressure off of her mind and pushing her body to the breaking point was the best way she knew how.

When her muscles were screaming, there was no room in her head for thoughts of blue eyes or those fine fucking lips that twitched without permission when Piper was focusing intently.

When her lungs were on fire, there was no space in her mind for dwelling on how touchable that ass was stuffed in a black pencil skirt all morning. If Piper was wearing underwear today, the only possibility was a thong and that had been far too easy for Alex to picture when she should have been giving her full attention to her computer screen.

Sweat poured over her eyebrows, stinging her eyes as she railed on the bag until she couldn't hold her arms up any longer. When she finally took the gloves off, she picked up her phone and saw she'd been hitting the bag almost non-stop for over an hour. Her hands were trembling but she felt good. She felt loose. She couldn't actually feel her fingers but her mind was finally clear. She would take the tradeoff.

With her stuff tucked back into her bag, Alex left the gym on shaky legs. This was exactly what she needed. A hot shower was the only thing between her and a full night of sleep. She pushed the button for the elevator and leaned up against the wall while she waited for the doors to open.

The ding of the bell roused her from a stare and she stepped through the doors. _You've got to be fucking kidding._ The look of shock on Piper's face as she straightened and stepped to the side actually made Alex chuckle as she took her stance on the other side of the carriage.

"I thought you were 'finishing up from your room' tonight," Alex prodded, raising her fingers into air quotes with more of a tease in her tone than anything else.

"I am," Piper responded, defensiveness edging her voice. "I was," she stammered. "I mean, I did finish in my room but I left my phone upstairs." She held up her phone as if proving it would meet her own need to justify her presence on the elevator.

Alex nodded, fully aware of her appearance. Even after toweling off in the locker room, she was still nearly dripping with sweat. Her black sports bra was completely soaked through and her stomach was shining. She noticed Piper's eyes taking her in and turned her hips slightly to flex her abs.

Piper's eyes snapped to meet hers before the elevator doors opened again to their floor. They were darker. Alex kept her eyes fixed on Piper's in a smoldering stare. The connection lasted so long that the doors began to close and Alex reached out to stop them. She kept her hand extended through the door. "After you."

They walked the short distance down the hall in silence. When they slowed to a stop at their respective doors, Piper spoke suddenly, "I don't have your number."

Alex smiled before meeting her eyes again. She opened the door to her room and leaned against the frame, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No," she cocked her head to the side, "You don't." She had no intention of making this easy, especially after the cold shoulder Piper had thrown her all day.

"Will you…?" Piper unlocked her mobile phone and held it out toward her.

Alex held her gaze for a few seconds and grinned before taking the phone. She punched her number into the keypad and handed it back. "I'm gonna shower." She raised her eyebrow and turned into her room, leaving Piper in the hall with her mouth hanging open.


	5. It May Take Some Time

Piper stood in the hall as she watched Alex's door close behind her. After a few seconds, she shook her head in a feeble attempt to regain her composure. She spun on her heel and retreated into the safety of her own room. Unable to shake the visual of Alex's glistening stomach and swollen arms, she paced back and forth along the distance of her room. Piper needed time to gather her thoughts.

_When Alex and I hooked up years ago, I had no expectations other than a fun night and a good fuck. I got both. Physically, she took my breath away. Everything about her body was magnetic. On the outside, she was gorgeous. But the confidence that came through took her level of attractiveness beyond what looks alone could create. The sexiness of her voice...hadn't hurt either._

_She was undeniably hot – but it was more than that. I didn't get the chance to explore it then but the depth in her eyes seemed boundless. It was like a person could get lost in them and never find their way back. In a way, I guess I never did find my way back from her._

_I left Larry because of my experience with Alex. That decision created a domino effect across nearly every area of my life. I was proud of the decisions I made and the success I enjoyed because of those choices. This woman was the catalyst for a major turning point in my life and she didn't even know it. Not only did I have her to thank for night that challenged my sense of identity at a foundational level, I also credited her with removing my excuses to settle for safety in life at the expense of satisfaction._

_Even in the short time since we started working on this case, I've gotten a chance to see more sides of her. She's fucking brilliant, though she doesn't show it in the way I would have expected given what I already knew about her personality. It's not cocky and in your face. It's subtle and understated. It's like she has no need to prove anything to anyone – she's just that smart._

_And she's funny. I knew from the first time we met that she was sharp and witty which I find damn near irresistible, but watching her go back and forth with Poussey has made me laugh countless times in the past few days – even if it was to myself today as I tried to keep my distance. Her sense of humor is dry and nuanced. She's had a comeback or witty insight to every comment thrown her way._

_All of that came crashing mercilessly into me when those elevator doors opened and I saw her standing there in barely more than underwear. The first time we met, she was able to get me naked within an hour with her looks and charm. As much as I've tried to turn it off, every single thing I've learned about her over the last few days has only made me more attracted to her._

Piper fidgeted with her phone and tried to still her feet. She sat on the edge of the bed for a few seconds before standing again. She looked at the number still staring at her from the call screen and saved it to a contact before setting the phone down on the bedside table.

That morning, she'd asked the staff to have a few staples delivered from the grocery store including some liquor and mixers. She knew herself well enough to know winding down after these intense days might require some extra liquid assistance. The way her brain had spun out over the last several minutes suggested some of that help was in order.

She quickly mixed a cocktail and drank it faster than normal before setting the cup down and stealing a glance at the phone on the desk. It taunted her. Alex's proximity taunted her. Against her better judgment, she punched out a text to the newest number in her contact list and sent it before she could change her mind.

"Feeling better?"

She poured herself another drink and threw it back faster than the first. When the screen lit up with a response, she couldn't help herself.

"Nightcap?"

Piper grabbed two plastic cups and her assortment of bottles, shoved her room key in her back pocket and walked out the door. She didn't have a plan other than to ease her haunting need to close the distance between her and Alex. The pull was too strong for her to fight anymore so she rapped a fist on the door across the hall and waited.

* * *

Alex was picky about few things in life – towels made the short list. She liked soft towels. After drying off with what felt like steel wool for four months at Quantico, even the mediocre bath towel she wrapped around herself felt like a cloud. Her own towels were among the things she most looked forward to when she got home.

After taking a hot shower, she saw the screen of her phone light up and picked it up on her way to her open suitcase. It was a text from Piper. _That didn't take long._

"Feel better?"

She typed a quick reply, "Yes." She tossed the phone on the bed but it lit up again before it landed.

"Nightcap?"

Alex glanced at the clock. It was just before 9. _What was she doing?_

Before she could respond, a knock sounded at her door. She was surprised and hopeful as she looked through the peephole to confirm her suspicions. There stood Piper with two plastic cups, a bottle of coke and two shooters of Captain. Alex smiled and opened the door.

Piper's face froze. Alex savored every second of the awkwardness. "Yeah, I'm down for a nightcap."

Piper cleared her throat and stuttered as her eyes fell over the towel wrapped around her chest, "I'm sorry…did you…I can wait…"

Alex stepped to the side to let Piper in. "No its ok. I'm good."

* * *

The last thing she expected was to see Alex in nothing but a towel, freshly washed hair with a slight curl falling lazily down over the front of her left shoulder. Piper's eyes latched onto the length of her exposed neck opposite the damp locks. She tried to speak but her voice caught weakly in her throat. What she did manage to stammer out was a laughable attempt to let Alex get dressed before she entered the room.

She wanted Alex to get dressed just as much as she didn't. The chemistry between them was almost suffocating and Piper was having trouble focusing her thoughts, let alone her eyes away from the beautiful body before her.

 _Breathe, Piper._ She offered herself a short pep talk before holding up the drink fixings and taking a few steps forward.

* * *

Alex had already decided she would let Piper come to her. She didn't touch her as she walked into the room. She didn't follow her or take the items from her hands. She just let the energy in the room build and waited to see how Piper would respond. She casually leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, watching Piper fiddle with the bottles and cups at the desk.

Piper reached for the ice bucket and managed to pour the necessary ingredients into the plastic cups. She approached Alex with cocktails in hand. "I'm getting a little déjà vu back to my college days with these cups."

Alex couldn't help but chuckle at her comment as she took the drink and looked her straight in the eye. "Just with the cups?"

She didn't back up after giving Alex her drink; instead, she took a slow sip before responding, "Maybe not just with the cups." Piper stepped closer, leaving the smallest of spaces between them without actually touching.

Alex was pleasantly surprised at her boldness and smiled as she raised the cup to her mouth.

Piper's head tilted curiously to the left as she volleyed, "Do you often host visitors when you're barely dressed?"

Alex laughed through a smirk and stepped away from the wall, brushing the towel against Piper's arm. She crossed the room to the closet housing her limited wardrobe. With her back to Piper, she pulled a fresh pair of underwear on under the towel. She let it drop to the floor, baring her back. She couldn't see Piper's reaction but there was no mistaking the quiet gasp from across the room. A slow grin covered her face as she pulled a black tank over her shoulders and turned to face a pair of wide eyes shining over the rim of a plastic cup. She held out her hand toward the small sofa and sat in the adjacent desk chair. "Have a seat."

Piper cleared her throat and pulled her lips into a tight smile. "Thank you." She took the few steps toward the sofa with her face tilted down and a suddenly shy look about her.

Alex wasn't expecting the awkwardness that arrived as she sat down. In an attempt to move the conversation past the strained moment, she broached what she hoped was a safe topic, "So, tell me what it's like having a President as a dad." She crossed her legs and sat back in the chair as she gave the other woman space to answer.

Piper's face softened almost immediately. She let out a slow breath and relaxed into the couch. She swirled her drink, her eyes fixed on the dancing ice cubes. Alex could practically see the thoughts scrolling across her forehead as if displayed on a marquis. This woman would be hopeless in a poker game.

A few seconds passed before Piper spoke, "I was shocked when he called to say he'd decided to run. He had never mentioned it as a possibility before that call. My dad and I weren't really close when I was growing up. We're actually closer now even though he's so much harder to reach." She laughed and pulled her right knee up off the sofa cushion, tucking her toes under her other leg.

Alex hadn't expected her to lead with such openness. She smiled in acknowledgement of Piper's play at irony and took another drink. She remained quiet, creating opportunity for Piper to continue.

Piper kept on, "Our family isn't exactly the picture of American idealism. I worried that he underestimated the lengths the media would go to dig up skeletons. I'm used to being in the crosshairs of angry pundits but my dad had always been able to avoid the spotlight. That type of anonymity flew out the window the second he threw his hat in the ring for that job, you know?" She looked at Alex.

"I really can't imagine the level of scrutiny the President is under 24/7," she responded. "How do you handle having such staunch critics of your work?"

Piper's eyes clouded briefly before she spoke, "It's hard. My ideas are fairly unconventional."

"You could say that." Alex chuckled knowingly.

Her face transitioned into conviction as she continued, "I really believe in my approach, though. I don't think I could keep at it if I weren't fully convinced that the solutions to our world's health crises are already inherent within our bodies and our environment. We really just need to get out of our own way."

She turned her eyes to meet Alex's. "To answer your question, I try to stay as ignorant as possible when it comes to what people are saying about my work – good or bad. I don't watch media about what I'm doing, I take interviews very selectively, and I never EVER Google myself. God, I made that mistake once. Lesson learned!" She lifted her cup to punctuate the end of her thoughts.

The two women laughed casually at Piper's confession. Alex admired what she knew of Piper's work even if she didn't completely share her viewpoints. After hearing her speak with such unguarded candor, Alex couldn't help but respect her even more.

When the chuckling subsided, Piper turned the conversation toward Alex, "What about you? I understand you're fresh out of Quantico. Tell me about that experience."

Alex wasn't usually one to say much but she was enjoying this conversation and felt unusually comfortable in the presence of Piper's vulnerability about her own life. She lifted her eyebrows and smiled easily. "It was definitely challenging in a lot of ways but that didn't really bother me. I like a challenge." She chanced a connection with Piper's eyes but was distracted by the slight blush that appeared on her cheeks.

She smiled again, "I didn't expect to, but I enjoyed the physicality of the training. That was a whole new world for me. I've always been pretty sharp in the classroom so I wasn't worried about that side of things. There are some fucking smart people there, though. I learned a lot."

She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was late. Almost as if on cue, she caught Piper trying to stifle a yawn. Alex met her eyes softly and stood, silently suggesting they call it a night. "Thanks for the drink." She held up her empty cup and lifted the corner of her mouth. "It was nice."

Piper stood and took several steps toward the door before turning back in Alex's direction. "Yeah, it was. Though I must admit, these aren't the most ideal conditions for getting to know someone."

"Is that what you're trying to do? Get to know me?" Alex's voice was notably deeper.

Piper tilted her head down and nodded slowly. " _Better_. I'm trying to get to know you better. I have a few things figured out but not enough." She backed toward the door with a deliciously flirty smile. "Goodnight, Alex." She bit her bottom lip and Alex's feet followed helplessly in response.

Alex moved toward the door as Piper turned the handle and stepped into the hall. She held it open while Piper unlocked her own room with much less trouble than the previous night.

"Someone's been practicing." She teased; smiling as Piper rolled her eyes at the reference to her flustered state. "Goodnight, Piper."

**30 January, 2020 1030 EST**

If Alex had any doubts about the direction she and Piper were moving in, they swiftly settled as soon as she stepped out of her room earlier that morning. The sizzle passed between them during several moments that ranged from sweet to considerate to downright smoldering.

The elevator door was closing as she turned down the hall and caught a glance of Piper running half a minute ahead of her. Piper held the door and smiled as Alex stepped in to share the ride, choosing to stand closer than necessary.

"Good m..." Piper's greeting caught in her throat and she cleared it in an awkward sounding choke before trying again. "Good morning."

Alex made no attempt to hide her amusement at Piper's difficulty finding her voice. She raised her eyebrows and enunciated clearly through a smile, "Good morning, Piper.

In spite of the rocky start, Piper seemed unwilling to let the short elevator ride pass in silence. "You look nice this morning."

She turned to look Piper in the eye. "Thank you." She made a point to slowly look over the blonde from top to bottom, stopping shamlessly when her eyes landed on her ass. "So do you." She said before looking back up to meet Piper's eyes again.

The flush that overtook Piper's face and neck was immediate. It gave Alex such a smug sense of self-satisfaction, she couldn't help but smirk as the elevator arrived and opened on their floor.

When they arrived at the lab, Alex poured two cups of coffee and felt the lingering touch of Piper's fingers around her own as she handed the steaming cup over. When she looked up in search of blue eyes, she found in them a twinkle that only intensified when the cheeks below lifted in a soft smile.

Poussey announced an incoming message with new information from the North Pacific, and as Piper approached the monitor wall from her workstation, Alex filed in behind her. This time, she didn't stop her hand from connecting with the small of Piper's back as they took several steps together before she gently moved past to the far end of the displays. Piper slowed and leaned into her touch, giving her Alex a strong whiff of her perfume. It made her head spin.

Though these moments made it more than a little difficult to concentrate, they'd highlighted her morning in the most delightful way.

Alex's tablet sounded from the makeshift meeting table in the center of the room with three sharp tones. Her scans were back. As much as she would have preferred to stay in the same room as Piper, she had to go up to the chem lab to retrieve her printouts and input the new variables in for the next round of testing. As early as it was in the day, she hoped this next set of scans would complete in time to shed some new light on the virus' origin today.

"I'm gonna head upstairs. Back after lunch, ladies." She looked at Washington first, whose head was buried deep into her computer screen. The only sound of acknowledgement from her direction was an affirmative grunt. When her eyes connected with Piper's, she smiled wide and mouthed a silent " _Bye_."

**30 January 2020, 1400 EST**

Piper exited the conference room after briefing her father and decided to pay a visit to the chem lab before heading back to the war room. _It's just a check in to see how things are progressing._ She wasn't trying very hard to convince herself that she wasn't just fishing for an excuse to see Alex again. If they were still up there, Piper expected to see Poussey helping Alex cross-reference data points or crunch numbers.

"Knock knock!" She announced her presence into the lab over the background noise of classic rock coming through a speaker sitting inconspicuously in the corner. The last thing she intended was to startle them if they were deep in concentration.

Alex turned her head. "Hey." Her voice was welcoming and she pulled her phone from her pocket to turn down the music.

"Is this your thinking music?" It's Zeplin, right?" Piper inquired on the music choice.

Alex smiled and gave a quick nod as she took a few steps toward her. "It gets me in the zone."

Piper returned the smile and looked around the lab casually. When she didn't see Washington at any of the workstations, she asked, "Where's your partner in crime?"

"She went downstairs…" Alex checked the clock on the wall to her right, "…almost an hour ago." She picked up a stack of several papers and spread them out across the counter-height table behind the row of workstations for Piper to see. "The scans are slowly dialing in closer to the answers I'm looking for."

Piper clicked back into her professional mode and turned her attention to the information under Alex's pointing finger.

Alex continued, "As I expected, these biomarkers are consistent with what you'd find in a compound of South Asian origins. That gives us a good indication of region but the DNA sequencing will give us more clues as to the original host of this virus."

She began using her hands to amplify her explanation, motioning along with the different steps of the process she was describing. "As a compound like this replicates, it mutates and adapts to each host it travels through, picking up segments of DNA from them and incorporating those segments into its own strands. Deconstructing those strands will give me a sort of reverse roadmap that leads back to the organism that was the original host."

Piper followed the analogy with a clarifying question. "So the viral strain we are analyzing could have biological components from an indeterminate number of animals?"

Alex froze her hands to listen to her question. When Piper paused to indicate she was finished, Alex nodded and resumed her animated description. "I've already determined that it can't survive outside a living organism for longer than 24 hours – and it only replicates in mammalian environments. Unfortunately, the DNA is the most complex piece of this puzzle. It takes the longest to decode."

"Especially if the number of hosts is unknown."

"Based on the geographic parameters coupled with the database of warm-blooded wildlife native to South Asia, I'm unwrapping the layers and following the trail back to the mother ship, so to speak." Alex straightened at the end of her explanation.

Piper's eyes were still looking over the scribbles of notes on the table. She was tremendously impressed. "That's fascinating, Alex."

Alex turned, leaning back against the table with her hands on her hips. "I think so." She gave a sideways smirk and chuckled.

Piper copied her position against the table, placing her own hand next to Alex's so their fingers were barely touching. The air in the room thickened as Alex glanced down at their hands.

Piper's eyes were on Alex's mouth. "You're hot when you speak 'Science'."

Their eyes connected and Piper was sure she'd never seen such a dark shade of green in all her life. The shared stare seemed to last for minutes before Alex leaned closer. "Just when I'm talking science?"

Piper shrugged and bit her bottom lip, leaning further toward Alex in anticipation. She felt the other woman's breath fall on her face and held her own. She'd been thinking about this moment since she saw Alex walk into the war room days earlier. She closed her eyes and waited for Alex to close the tiny distance remaining between their lips.

A beep from the workstation directly in front of them startled her eyes open just in time to see Alex turn and bend at the waist toward the monitor. "What the… _fuck_?"

Piper's disappointment was quickly overtaken by intrigue at Alex's reaction to whatever she was learning from the information on the screen in front of her.

"What?" She moved next to Alex to see the monitor but she couldn't interpret anything.

"Chiroptera." Alex turned to face Piper.

Her mind churned. It had been a long time since she'd learned the classes and species but she recognized the Latin word…she just couldn't place it immediately. Her face lit up suddenly, her eyebrows jumping as she connected the data points in her brain. She met Alex's eyes, certain about her recollection but uncertain about what it meant in this context. "Bats?" The question was evident in her voice but it didn't come from doubt about her accuracy, it came from her hesitation around the implications the discovery carried.

Alex set her jaw and exhaled an affirmative, "Fucking bats."


	6. Sending In The Weather

Alex gave her brain a few minutes to spool in light of this completely unexpected turn of events. _Bats._ The virus could have been transmitted from bats to humans in several ways. A bite or consuming infected tissue were the most plausible – not that she understood why someone would want to eat an organism that carried such a smorgasbord of deadly diseases on any given day but then again, a lot of things the Chinese ate seemed weird to her.

She brought her mind back to the present and found Piper's eyes glinting with what seemed like a sudden hesitation. Piper stepped back and covered her mouth with her hands. Her head moved side to side in what Alex thought looked like an involuntary tremor and shifted her absent eyes to the wall over Alex's shoulder.

Alex took a step toward her and spoke calmly, "Hey, this is good. It's more data and it gives us a solid direction to run in." She could see Piper was struggling to process this information. She took another step forward and put her hands on the outsides of Piper's arms. "Piper…Piper look at me."

Her eyes snapped back to meet Alex's and she lowered her hands, folding them in a shaky pretzel at her chest. "I don't know anything about bats," she said in a small voice. "I…I…" She stammered, unable to complete whatever thought she'd started. She looked quickly to different points around the room as if she expected to see something.

Alex smiled and did her best to encourage Piper through what seemed to be a drastic over-reaction to the result of her latest scan. She should have been happy to get one step closer to solving this puzzle but she almost seemed scared. "Neither do I," she chuckled. "Let's get this down to Washington and put our heads together." She squeezed Piper's arms lightly and continued, "I'll meet you down there in a few minutes."

Piper nodded and exhaled quickly, shaking her head again, "Yeah. Ok." She turned into the counter and leaned over it on her elbows, rubbing her temples.

Alex picked up the stack of papers from the desk and grabbed the latest documents from the printer tray before looking at Piper again. "Ok." She turned and walked out of the lab trying to shake off the weird feeling Piper's behavior was giving her. _Maybe she just needs a minute._

After a quick stop in the restroom, Alex strode down the hall at an excited clip. By the time she opened the door to the war room, she had mentally outlined her next steps and was eager to get Washington's input on the bat development.

Poussey was staring intently at her workstation when Alex strode in. "Ok, so…" she looked around the room, immediately noticing Piper's absence. "Where's Piper?"

Washington looked around the room before answering with a shrug, "Not here."

The uneasy feeling returned to Alex's spine with a vengeance. She knew something was wrong. She left the papers on the table and exited the room, then pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed Piper's number. It rang as Alex moved. Piper should have been down there already. To confirm her suspicions, Alex ducked quickly into the bathroom just outside the war room. "Piper?" She checked the stalls. The call went to Piper's voicemail. She dialed again. When she realized Piper wasn't in there, she picked up her pace and retraced her steps to the lab. Voicemail. Alex called again.

As soon as she swung the door open, she heard the unmistakable sound of someone hyperventilating. Alex shoved the phone she had been repeatedly dialing for the last several minutes into her pocket and moved toward the sound. She walked around the counter they had been standing at several moments before and saw the trembling woman lowered to the floor with her head between her knees. Alex moved immediately to the floor and took Piper's face in her hands, tilting it up to find sweat beading on her forehead, her pupils dilated and her eyes wild. Her chest was convulsing uncontrollably, flooding her brain with an excess of oxygen and Alex knew if she didn't slow it down, Piper would be unconscious in a matter of minutes. She was in a full-blown panic attack.

* * *

_Bats. What the fuck?_

If Piper were to have made a list of the last things she could have possibly expected, bats may not have even made the cut. She was a scientist. She was supposed to be able to assimilate seemingly unrelated data points and find a commonality to make sense of the story they told. But this unexpected development had knocked her confidence to its knees.

Humans, she knew…but bats? A swell of insecurity rose within her chest and she felt the piercing pang of doubt shout her down with questions she couldn't answer. This fell far beyond the scope of her expertise. The team would expect her to know what to do next and she hadn't the slightest idea where to begin. She was quickly losing grip on the control she needed to feel stable.

She suddenly felt the familiar claws of anxiety scratching at the back of her throat. She'd felt them in the car with her dad earlier this week but he'd seen her falter immediately and was able to focus her before her mind completely derailed.

Piper knew her triggers: feeling powerless, feeling unprepared and feeling rushed. She knew her coping strategies, too. She knew how to reframe and contextualize the emotion. She knew how to breathe slowly and calm the inflated response of her sympathetic nervous system. She _knew_ all of that cognitively, but if she was alone when those triggers got touched, it was nearly impossible for her to deploy the strategies that rescued her from the clutches of frenzied panic.

Alex had been there at first but she didn't see what was happening. Why would she? She didn't know to look for the signs. How could she? Piper felt herself slipping but she couldn't formulate the words to ask for help before Alex rushed off to get a start on the new information.

She tried to breathe but her lungs heaved violently without her permission. She was able to get herself to the floor before her muscles began their revolt against her direction. She dropped her head and tried to count the dots speckled over the floor tiles but they danced across her vision like cruel constellations at a rave. Her phone buzzed in her pocket but her hands had long passed the point of cooperation with her wishes.

The room sounded like it housed a thousand radios, each tuned to a different station and every one at max volume. She tried to focus in on one of them - any of them to quiet the riot in her mind but it was no use. The buzzing in her pocket was just another voice in the screaming crowd. Her ears flooded with chaos and the edges of her vision began to constrict.

She felt the presence of another person but it was as if she was submerged in the deep end looking up at someone standing at the edge of the pool. She felt heavy and weightless at the same time and the air became thick around her, crushing her arms into her chest and gusting across the opening of her ear in a steady, unrelenting rhythm.

Piper knew she was seconds from passing out. _At least I'm already on the floor._ All she could do was hope she came to again before someone found her there.

Just as she was about to succumb to the circling darkness, Piper felt an unfamiliar pounding reverberate against her body. Her frantic mind registered an unwavering pressure from the outside begin to still the pandemonium she felt inside. The rush of air against her ear continued, synching with the deep thud crashing into her back.

She felt the sound of the radios dim and the edges of her vision slowly reclaimed their rightful territory. A blurred sound filled her ears between the steady surges of air before it clarified into a familiar voice, deep and even. "Breathe with me, Piper. Slow and easy. Just breathe."

Her breath extended under the combination of deep pressure around her chest, the directions offered into her ear and the incessant heartbeat pressed firmly behind her own. She focused on matching her respirations with the slow pace of breath across the side of her face. She gradually emerged from her paralyzed mind, noting first the arms wrapped around her like a vice.

The relief she felt as the anxiety fled her bones overshadowed the imminent embarrassment she knew was coming. Her entire being released from the tension that had held her captive for the previous several minutes. The voice behind her reacted immediately, "That's it. Relax. I've got you."

She melted into the safety of the body behind her and laid her head back against Alex's shoulder. Several tears dropped over her cheeks as her body unwound. "I'm sorry." She spoke softly, the heat of shame rising in her cheeks.

"No. I'm sorry. I should have stayed. I knew something was off and I…" Alex's head shook slightly behind her. "I shouldn't have left like that." Alex's voice carried the same steadiness but her tone was immeasurably softer than Piper had ever heard it. "I should have stayed."

The two women remained on the floor for several minutes before Alex shifted out of her position behind Piper, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands. "Can you stand?"

Alex helped her to a chair and grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge in the corner of the room. She knelt down again and set her eyes on Piper. The compassion and understanding pouring out of them took Piper by surprise. "Have you eaten today?"

"No. I don't actually remember the last time I ate anything." Piper looked down sheepishly, knowing her failure to take care of herself was coming to collect on her debt.

Alex took her hands again and lifted her to her feet. "Alright. We're going to fix that right now." The two women walked toward the door. She smiled at Piper with kind eyes. "And then we're going to find someone who knows about bats."

* * *

Piper tried to bring herself back to center as she walked with Alex to the war room. She was embarrassed, stressed, and exhausted. At the same time, she was relieved Alex had been the one to find her and found the other woman's presence distinctly calming. To this point, being around Alex had the opposite effect on her but when Piper found herself truly in need, Alex's voice and body grounded her in a way that was surprising and comforting.

Once they'd left the chem. lab, AAlex seemed fairly unphased by herPiper's breakdown and offered to arrange for some soup and sandwiches to be brought up for the three of them. She made no mention of the happenings in the lab when they returned to find Washington clacking away at her workstation.

"I decided we need an early dinner," Alex announced as they walked in. "So you're off the hook tonight, Washington." The grin Alex tossed in Poussey's direction was playful and unassuming.

Poussey looked up from her screen, "Hey, you found her." She tilted her head toward Piper, who smiled back at her but said nothing. "I don't know how early you think this dinner is, but it's after 5 so I think it's on time for a change. Normal people don't eat at 9pm, you know."

"I have been called a lot of things in my life – 'normal' has yet to make the list," Alex quipped back as the door opened with the arrival of their dinner.

The three women ate, and Alex brought Poussey up to speed on the latest findings on the virus origins. Piper remained quiet, listening to the women talk and letting the soup bring energy to her body and mind. They tossed several ideas back and forth on the next steps before Piper straightened. She held half a grilled cheese sandwich in her hand and wiped her mouth with a napkin before she spoke. Light bulbs began to illuminate behind her eyes as she finally entered in to the discussion.

"We need an expert. We need multiple experts. We need to know exactly how this disease affects the physiology of every host between the bats and the humans. Is it lethal in all of them? Some of them? We need to identify what common symptoms appear in each species and cross reference those to isolate patterns and predict how the human immune system will interact with it."

Poussey had tossed the rest of her sandwich on the paper plate soon after Piper started talking and was furiously typing notes to keep up with her brainstormed instructions.

The path forward began to crystallize in Piper's mind as she paced back and forth across the room, waving the sandwich as if she was directing traffic. She pointed her attention to Alex. "Alex, based on your reverse mapping of the DNA strands, we need a list of every mammal this compound has incorporated into its mutation."

Alex nodded, chewing the last bite of her sandwich.

Piper continued, "We also need known infection rates, death rates and the length of time for each of the species affected – as much information as we can get. If this disease is affecting large numbers of animals in Southeast Asia, we should be able to get some decent data from wildlife experts on the ground there. If it's new and hasn't made an impact on the ecosystem, that tells us something too. "

She was gathering momentum as the pieces fell into place in her mind. "I will spend the morning comparing human physiology of those of the different species Alex identifies. There is a lot of overlap in the various mammalian immune responses and much of the variation has to do with environmental factors and diet." She looked up at Alex as she finished, realization and confidence colliding over her face. Dr. Piper Chapman was back, "That's my fucking lane."

Poussey finished typing up the notes a few seconds after Piper finished talking. "Ok, so we just gotta find these animal gurus. I'll start doing some digging on where to find them and start making some calls."

Piper leveled her excited eyes at Washington, "Call the zoo. Call the University. Call Crocodile fucking Dundee, for all I care. But we need someone who knows everything about bats and whatever other mammals show up on Alex's list. Just get us a few people who know these animals and what impact this infection could have on them and get them here as soon as fucking possible. We're going to map this whole damn thing out after my briefing with the White House and I want the right people in the room to make it happen."

She sat down, satisfied at the direction she'd taken and drawing tremendous confidence from the plan she had just formulated. She took a bite of the sandwich in her hand. The approving sound that came out of her as she chewed made Alex and Poussey smile at each other again.

"Girl loves her a grilled cheese, " Poussey chuckled.

Piper nodded. "This tastes fucking amazing."

* * *

Alex laid back heavily on the pillows stacked against her headboard. She felt like several days had passed since she last laidlay on the bed. Piper's panic attack had caught her completely by surprise, but she was thankful to be there to help her through it.

She wondered how often this kind of thing plagued a woman who seemed to carry herself with such poise and strength. They hadn't talked about the incident further. After Piper had recovered and then found her stride again in the war room, the evening had flown by, leaving no room for discussion that wasn't work-related.

Though she considered letting the topic lie, she couldn't help but wonder how Piper was feeling after the tumultuous day. She thought bringing it up might embarrass Piper, which was the last thing she wanted. But she didn't want to just ignore it either. She hoped her concern would be received in the genuine way she meant it.

Alex picked up her phone to type out a quick message but before she could hit _SEND_ , the screen lit up with an incoming text from Piper.

"Hey Alex. Thanks for being there today. I appreciated it."

Alex let out a long exhale, thankful that she didn't have to worry about how to start this conversation. She responded promptly, hoping to draw out the connection at least a little.

"Of course. How are you feeling?"

The woman across the hall was quickly occupying much more space in Alex's mind. The physical attraction had obviously been there from the beginning but the feelings Alex was experiencing were growing beyond appreciation for her external beauty. In Piper's moment of extreme vulnerability that afternoon, their connection deepened, at least from Alex's perspective. She needed to know Piper was truly okay. She held the phone to her chest and closed her eyes, resting them for a few seconds before the phone buzzed in her hand.

"I'm better. Tired. Exhausted actually. But excited for tomorrow."

Alex smiled. Piper had come alive after dinner and finished the day strong. She had every reason to be excited for the next day. The text she sent focused more on Piper's physical well being than on her professional duties, though.

"Hopefully not so excited that you forget to eat."

She knew she was revealing more to Piper about her level of interest and care. As foreign as it felt, Alex was ok with it. Piper's response brought a slow smile to her face.

"I have a feeling you'll make sure that doesn't happen. Time for sleep now. Thanks again. Sleep well."

When a yawn forced her mouth open, she knew sleep was calling to her, too. She punched out a final reply before plugging in her phone and setting her glasses on the bedside table.

"Goodnight, Piper _."_

**30 January, 2020 1000 EST**

The next day the war room was abuzz with activity. The trio had spent the morning preparing for a meeting of the minds that Poussey had facilitated. By 10am, Washington had three animal experts physically en route, one from the University of Maryland Zoology department and two from the Baltimore Zoo. She had also scheduled video calls with three different zookeepers in Southeast Asia who had experience with the virus. Everyone would be online and/or present by noon.

Piper was not feeling at ease with the idea of leaving the room after an hour to brief her dad. She hadn't yet utilized the unfettered access her father had given her at the outset of this case and she figured this was an appropriate time to exercise it. Rescheduling with the President of the United States was not something she thought many people had the luxury of doing. She picked up the phone hanging near the door and dialed "0".

"Operations, how can I help you?" A cheerful but direct voice answered the phone.

Piper wasted no time on pleasantries, "This is Dr. Chapman. I need to speak to Frank Griffin. Can you connect me with him?" She didn't know who was in charge of these communications at this facility but she didn't really care, either. She needed to reschedule her briefing and Frank was the one to make that happen.

The voice responded without hesitation, "Stand by, Dr. Chapman."

 _Well, that was easy._ Piper raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Thirty seconds later, Frank's distinct voice greeted Piper over the line, "Dr. Chapman. What can I do for you?"

"Hi, Frank. I'm calling to ask if it's possible to reschedule our briefing this afternoon. We've made some significant headway over the last 18 hours. Several consultants are arriving at noon and I think my comments to the President will be much more informed and value-added if I we can connect later in the day," Piper paused for his response.

Frank's end of the line was muffled for a few seconds, indicating to Piper that he was talking to someone else in the room before his voice came through clearly, "I'm with the President now, Piper. I'll put you on speaker."

"Piper? Good morning," Bill Chapman's voice sounded pleasantly surprised.

Her response carried a shade of relief to hear him even though she wasn't expecting to, "Hey, dad."

The President continued, "Frank tells me you're onto something and want to move our briefing back. Can you give me the highlights of what you're working now and unless you have something urgent to discuss, we can hear the full story at our regular time tomorrow? My schedule later in the day doesn't look promising."

"Sure," Piper begins. "You're not gonna believe this…"

* * *

Keeping up with what was essentially an afternoon-long data dump from seven different very intelligent individuals took every ounce of concentration Alex had to offer. The language barrier present with the Asian zoologists required a translator, which required even more mental energy to extract pertinent information.

She meticulously recorded the information presented by each of the experts Poussey had assembled on whiteboards across one end of the war room and legal pads strewn over the meeting table in the center of the room. Washington categorized and organized the data in real time as quickly as she could. Between the two of them, they were creating a remarkably comprehensive picture of how the virus was impacting different mammals. The speed of their work allowed the other scientists to give immediate feedback to hone and perfect their models.

Piper worked to contrast these impacts with the potential effect on the human immune system. She peppered the group with questions, asked them for endless clarifications and demonstrated a tremendous amount of stored knowledge as most of this interaction was done while she was pacing the floor without consulting any outside source of information. Alex was stunned several times throughout the afternoon at the sheer volume of information she seemed to be able to recall immediately.

Through the afternoon, they learn that the virus weakens the respiratory system of immuno-compromized animals and resulting pneumonia is the actual cause of death. They also learn that the mortality rate of infected animals at the zoos in question is remarkably low in healthy populations. In weak, sick or elderly populations though, the situation is dire.

These findings, coupled with the long incubation period and the high percentage of asymptomatic carriers made this virus extremely fast moving and even harder to track. It was like an electric current that could be transmitted through every person but only shocked certain ones. The only way to prevent the transmission of the current was to separate the people.

At this juncture, the Asian zookeepers had not identified an effective treatment beyond caring for the infected animals in the same way they would while waiting for any other virus to run its course. This was the most troubling of the discoveries the team made that day. If this virus took hold and spread among a human population, there was currently no known treatment. Everything would be experimental.

A lull in the room's energy caused everyone to physically stop. Piper spoke up, thanking the faces looking back at her from a wall of screens as well as the three extra people in the room for their time and insight. She asked that they be available the following morning should any more questions arise and brought the meeting to a close.

Alex's eyes burned behind her glasses. She had been firing on all cylinders all day and was beginning to feel the adrenaline fade and fatigue stepping in to taking its place.

One of the agents from downstairs escorted the three scientists out. They would be staying at a nearby hotel through the day tomorrow in case their input was needed again.

When just the three of them were left in the war room, Poussey leaned back against the table and looked at the whiteboards, which were now looking more black than white with Alex's messy but legible handwriting scrawled over every inch of them. After a few moments, she turned to look at Piper. "Is this as bad as I think it is?"

Piper looked back at her and folded her arms before nodding, "Yeah." She continued, "We need to put this new information up against the models I created several days ago showing vulnerable populations. Now that we know this virus targets the respiratory system, we can extrapolate the information we have now out to see where the peak of infection rates exceeds the available medical resources.

Alex listened carefully to Piper's explanation before concluding, "We just need to stop it before it gets out."

The three of them nodded silently.

After several minutes of sitting in the weight of the moment, Alex spoke again, "I'm going to head downstairs and find something to eat. Either of you wanna come?"

Poussey was the first to respond, "Nah, man. I'm gonna take a walk and call my girl. I'll catch up with you guys in the morning." She grabbed her phone and left the room.

Alex found Piper's eyes with her own, wordlessly waiting for her response on the prospect of dinner. Piper smiled softly back at her before sighing, "Yeah. I should definitely eat something. Maybe we could grab something and take it upstairs?"

"Sounds good," Alex moved toward the door, holding it open for Piper to walk ahead.


	7. Make Yourself Feel Better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> M, friends. You've waited long enough.

**30 January, 2020 2000 EST**

As she listened to the drone of the phone at her ear, Poussey's eyes glazed over in the glow of the vending machine. One hand held the phone and the other propped her own frame up against that of the machine. Today had been a whirlwind and she let her mind take a brief vacation from her body while she waited for Chantel to pick up the call.

Just when she was about to hang up, the line connected and she couldn't stop a smile from overtaking her face.

"Hey baby," Chantel's soothing voice in her ear starkly contrasted with the harsh fluorescent lighting illuminating the prepackaged dinner options in her face.

"I miss you," Washington's voice was soft and small. "Tell me something good while I decide between Doritos and Snickers."

Chantel laughed, "Baby, we talked about dinner from the vending machine! And I don't know why you put yourself through the debate over and over; we both know you're picking chips."

"Salty beats sweet every time. Unless we're talking about you," Poussey was hopelessly in love with this woman. Doritos fell to the bottom of the machine with a quiet thud.

They chatted for several minutes about Chantel's day, logistics around the house and what she planned for the weekend. Poussey had lost track of what day of the week it was several days ago. Hearing her lady talk about her normal life and schedule was comforting in comparison to the organized chaos she felt swirling around the building she'd been living in for nearly a week. She swiped her card through the second machine and pushed the button that released a bottle of Coke to complete her meal.

"Tell me about your team," Chantel continued.

"They're brilliant. Just…I'm pretty smart, you know." They shared a laugh.

"Oh I know."

"But these girls know how to throw down. Watching them work today was almost inspiring. I don't know how else to say it. The chemist, Vause, the speed her mind processes a zillion different pieces of information and then spits it out into a concise, clear summary makes my head spin," she broke open the top of the bag in her hand on the way back to her room.

"And Chapman…I expected her to be smart, of course. But her brain is next level, babe. I mean it's…it's something to watch." Washington let her body collapse onto the sofa in her room and started crunching away at her evening 'meal'.

"Sounds like you're pretty impressed."

Washington heard the smile in her voice when she continued, "Are they hot, too? Should I be worried?"

"They are damn fine women, if you're into white girls. You know I need my caramel, baby! I only have eyes for you…and lips…and hands…and…" Poussey let the end of her sentence fade out in a suggestive hum that was matched on the other end of the line.

"Something's up with them, though. I been seeing a lot of flirty eyes and staring happening. They're definitely into each other but I don't get the vibe anything juicy has actually happened yet. I'll be watching the space. You know I love a good workplace romance!"

Chantel laughed again at her girlfriend before steering the conversation to a close,, "Speaking of the workplace, I have a few things to finish up here before I can crash. You know I love you."

"Love you too, boo. I miss you. Talk soon, yeah?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Alex watched Piper closely as she wandered through the small cafeteria space on the main floor of the building. The food options were limited, but decent. Alex quickly chose a wrapped sandwich and a bag of chips. Piper seemed to be much less decisive regarding her own dinner. She jumped when Alex approached her from behind.

"I know how you feel about the grilled cheese," Alex teased over her shoulder, her tone much more innocent than her proximity.

Piper replied after her tiny jump at Alex's presence, "It was so good, but I'm thinking something a little more portable since I don't want to eat down here." She didn't move away immediately, choosing instead to lean almost imperceptibly back, brushing against Alex's chest before taking several steps forward.

Alex stiffened at Piper's move. She knew it was as deliberate as her own choice to invade Piper's personal space and felt the delicate mix of exhaustion and arousal swirl in her chest, threatening to overtake her inhibitions and better judgment. The near kiss in the lab the previous day had tormented any idle thoughts since. There really hadn't been opportunity for many idle thoughts given the pace of the day but the visual of Piper leaning in in toward her flashed through her mind several times.

Piper opened an upright cooler and grabbed a variety of items. Carrot sticks with hummus, a string cheese, Greek yogurt and a small container of French onion dip. She walked toward the register and completed her selection with a sleeve of crackers from the countertop basket, holding her badge out for the smiling lady at the checkout to scan.

Alex followed closely behind and soon they were carrying matching brown bags down the corridor in opposite hands. Neither spoke on the walk to the elevator but Piper's eyes found hers and their shared smile caused a bubbling in her chest that she didn't want to stop. Alex felt the overwhelming urge to take Piper's hand. She resisted, hoping the elevator would be unoccupied and afford them a moment of privacy.

When they arrived at the elevator, Piper reached for the up arrow and Alex took the opportunity to touch her, placing her own fingers over Piper's, pushing the button together. Alex offered her an exploratory look with one eyebrow raised slightly, showing Piper that the contact was only accidental if she wanted it to be. Alex was acutely aware of the other woman's fingers curling toward her own in an unspoken response, scraping gently across the palm of her hand before separating as their arms returned to their sides.

When the elevator opened, Alex was relieved to find it empty as she walked in after Piper. When Piper turned at the back of the carriage, Alex once again invaded her space and stopped several centimeters short of the kiss they had so narrowly missed the previous day. Alex's eyes searched the blue pair before her for any sign of reluctance or hesitation. Finding none, she leaned forward to tenderly connect their lips in a gentle kiss.

The softness of it made Alex light headed. She felt the lips against hers tremble slightly as she pulled away, green eyes connecting with blue again in search of the validation she already knew was there.

Piper's smile shone both on her face and in her eyes as she took Alex's hand in hers, interlacing their fingers before she spoke, "I think you're forgetting something."

Alex tilted her head in confusion, suddenly concerned as to what Piper might be inferring. She slid out from between Alex's body and the wall, pulling Alex's hand with hers toward the matrix of buttons left of the elevator door. She guided their hands to "3" and found Alex's eyes again, stepping close, "This elevator is nice, but it's not where I want to kiss you when I kiss you again."

They stood facing each other for several agonizing seconds while the elevator rose to their floor. It was everything Alex could do to resist another kiss. Instead, she held the other woman's eyes in a searing stare that screamed silent promises of her plans once they made it to the seclusion of a room. When the chime of the elevator announced their arrival, Alex lifted a brow and spoke in a register so low it may as well have been a growl. "Your place or mine?"

* * *

Piper's presence of mind was quickly deteriorating into a singular focus…get to Alex's room as fast as fucking possible. They had danced around each other for days and she was done with that. She needed her, and she needed her immediately. Somehow, she managed to release Alex's hand and step back from that flawless face before the elevator door opened.

Thankfully, they were positioned platonically as they exited the carriage, passing three agents waiting to take their places. Their physical proximity was the only shred of evidence substantiating their innocence. Any halfway observant person would have noticed the flush on both their faces, the thunder in their eyes and the way they both simultaneously cleared their throats upon seeing other people. Add in the purposeful strides they both took toward Alex's room and it was crystal clear what they were about to do.

Piper smiled as they arrived at the room. Alex already had her keycard in hand, having no trouble opening the door before ushering Piper in by the small of her back. Before the door was closed behind them, Piper had dropped the brown paper bag on the desk and turned into Alex's body, burying her face in the crook of the taller woman's neck. She felt Alex's arms surround her, their strength and steadiness stilling her nerves.

She took a deep breath, inhaling the nuances of Alex's distinct aroma. Her perfume held woody hints tempered with mint and citrus. It was decidedly strong but still feminine. Her mind flashed to the night of their cocktails when she recognized the smell of her shampoo. It had filled the air much more heavily then but lingered now as Piper's nose pressed into the line where Alex's hair met her skin. It was an intoxicating combination and Piper was quickly faltering under the influence.

She angled her face, pressing her lips to the pale skin under Alex's ear and sliding her hands over the length of her back to find the hem of her blazer. Her fingers slowly edged upward under the jacket, tenderly stroking the small of Alex's back through her shirt. She opened her mouth, instantly escalating the kisses against her neck from sweet to steamy.

Alex's free hand moved instinctively to the back of Piper's head and she moaned quietly under the pleasure of a talented tongue against her neck. She lowered her face to bury it in Piper's hair before looking up to the ceiling and ditching her own paper sack.

Piper continued with her undaunted advance. Her fingers swirled around Alex's back and dropped over her ass. She filled her hand and squeezed the soft skin there through Alex's slacks. Moans became louder and Alex pulled Piper's head away enough to connect their lips.

Alex kissed her softly at first, so delicately it was almost painful. She covered Piper's lips with slow and gentle affection. Piper took her sweet time with her fingertips against Alex's ass. She knew it was bordering on tickling when she felt a shiver run up the length of Alex's spine.

Her voice was low and deep when she moved her lips against Piper's ear, "God, those fingers are everything." Piper pressed a smile into the side of her neck as Alex took her earlobe into her mouth and began a gentle sucking rhythm.

Piper's fingers moved back up under the hem of Alex's blazer but she didn't stop until her hands wound around to the stomach in front of her, skimming higher over Alex's substantial breasts and up over her shoulders. She slid the jacket off and tossed it over the back of the desk chair to her left. Her fingers returned immediately to pull the shirt tucked in to Alex's slacks out. Alex let loose of her ear and stood to her full height before raising her arms to let Piper pull the silken shirt over her head. The face mirroring hers flooded with desire and Alex's deep green eyes had turned an impossibly dark shade of gray.

Piper took a long, longing look at the shirtless woman before her. Her tongue wouldn't stay put in her mouth and she licked her lips in the anticipation of covering every inch of Alex's skin with them.

Alex smiled and closed what little distance remained between them. She took each button of Piper's shirt between her fingers and freed them one by one, as she stared back into the thunderstorm brewing in her own her own blue eyes. Piper glanced down several times toward those full her lips but Alex didn't budge.

When the shirt was fully open, Alex took her turn with lips against Piper's skin but she chose a different area to explore. She slid the fabric over the back of her shoulders and walked her back to the edge of the bed, all the while her tongue against Piper's chest nearly drove her mad. By the time her back hit the mattress, Alex had already flicked the clasp of her bra loose and taken the stiff peak of Piper's nipple between her teeth.

"Alex…"

* * *

Hearing her name fall from Piper's lips in that desperate tone elicited yet another moan from her throat. She felt hungry hands pull the bra free from around her, finally baring her upper body completely as she lowered her chest over the skin beneath her. Both women whimpered at the new contact.

Piper continued with her work on Alex's clothes, unlatching her pants and taking her underwear down in the same movement. Alex finished the job, kicking the garments to the floor.

Piper pulled her now naked partner upward, hastily kissing any available skin and rolling herself over to take the higher position. Alex took the opportunity to unzip the only remaining item of clothing between the two and slid Piper's skirt down over her ass, her fingers gliding over bare skin underneath.

"Uhhhhhh," she groaned and threw her head back against the mattress. "I fucking knew it."

Alex felt Piper smile into her again in response. "Can't have panty lines, you know. It's poor form." She kicked the skirt off the end of the bed and drew her knee up to connect between Alex's thighs.

"Piper…yes." She refused to wait another second and dipped her hand straight between Piper's legs, her fingers sliding effortlessly back and forth across slick folds. She felt the sting of teeth against her shoulder immediately followed by tongue and lips as Piper reacted to her fingers burrowing into her.

She whined and groaned as her hips unlocked, moving freely against Alex's pulsing hand. She rode three fingers roughly, tilting into the base of Alex's thumb against her clit with every descent. Piper wasn't shy about taking what she needed. She rolled and rocked over Alex's body, pulling at her hair and dragging her open mouth over skin between pants and moans.

"Alex…fuck!" She increased her speed and Alex's mouth covered her nipple, sucking relentlessly against tender skin as Piper came undone above her. She moaned, wordless and incoherent as her body stiffened and broke over Alex's hands. When she collapsed in a heaving, sweaty mess, all Alex could do was smile.

* * *

"God, there's never been anyone like you." Piper rose up when her breathing slowed and took Alex's face in her hands. She covered her face in short, sweet kisses. "There's never been anyone close."

She moved her lips to connect with Alex's earlobe, "Every time I've gotten off since that night, I see your face when I close my eyes."

She felt Alex's hands tighten around her hips in response to her words. "Every time I touch myself, it's been your face in my head," she whispered before biting at her ear. "It's always been you."

The moan that came out of Alex's throat was primal. She struggled under Piper, trying to adjust her position but Piper wasn't having it. She lowered her voice and spoke in a tormenting tone. "No. No, I'm gonna fuck you."

Her mouth was still against Alex's ear but she had placed her knees on either side of the woman beneath her and her hands began a brutal assault on Alex's chest. She pulled and twisted the supple mounds of flesh, dragging her fingernails around the sides and tender crease under each breast. Alex's breath was ragged and uneven against Piper's shoulder.

"You like that, don't you…a little rough with them?" Piper taunted into her ear.

Alex's mouth opened and latched over the skin there, sucking ferociously in response to Piper's welcome treatment of her breasts and growling, which Piper took as an affirmative. She would sport that mark for a week or two, for sure. And she would smile every time she saw it. Alex's fingers dug mercilessly into the flesh of Piper's ass as it became unclear who was fucking whom.

Piper groaned against Alex's ear, simultaneously helpless on the one hand under the control of Alex's hands and mouth, yet fully steering the direction of this encounter with the position of her body and the magic of her own hands. She knew there were few things she could do to make Alex release her hold and let her move but the immediate reaction she received after her whispered desire proved she had chosen wisely. "I wanna taste you."

Alex moaned into a feverish kiss against Piper's open mouth, her tongue bathing Piper's in fiery anticipation. Piper straightened her back, hovering over top of Alex and letting her eyes linger over the woman's body beneath her. Her chest was heaving. The flesh there was red and blotchy, nipples hardened into pebbles under Piper's rough hand. Several red trails left by her fingernails crossed the sweaty surface of Alex's toned stomach, leading downward to where Piper's attentions were quickly settling. Just above her hips, a shiny streak testified to the level of arousal Piper was experiencing.

Alex looked a mess, but fuck if every bit of that picture didn't stoke the blaze already raging in Piper's eyes. She pinned Alex's wrists down against the bed. She slowly walked each knee down along Alex's sides, dragging her center downward against her belly, over the quivering mound between her hips and finally electing Alex's left thigh as the lucky winner for her to grind against while she employed her greedy tongue to clean up the trail she left down Alex's body.

"Jesus, Piper." Was all Alex could say as the other woman had her way, grinding wildly against the top of her leg and moaning at the taste of herself covering Alex's chiseled abs. Piper licked and sucked torturously over the tender space between her navel and the top of her slit.

Alex was whining beneath her. "Piper. I can't…please."

Piper let her tongue dip over the edge, brushing the top of Alex's clit in a dangerous tease. Alex groaned at the move and twisted her hands free. She took her Piper's head in both hands, pulling her face up before kissing the taste of Piper right out of her mouth., "That's enough."

Before Piper knew what was happening, she was on her back with Alex hovering on her knees over her chest. In her shock, she exclaimed, "Jesus, Alex!" She didn't have much time to process before she felt Alex's hands on her face again as she moved her knees to either side of Piper's head.

"Now you can fuck me." Alex wrapped her right hand around the back of Piper's neck and lowered her pussy into Piper's waiting mouth.

A lucky observer wouldn't have been able to distinguish the moans coming from the two women. Alex fucked Piper's face ruthlessly, moving wherever she needed, whenever it suited her. Piper responded earnestly, offering her tongue and lips to Alex's satisfaction. She knew her face was covered and that Alex was having her own moment, taking what she needed from the woman below her. When Alex rolled forward, Piper's tongue stretched keenly into the deepest troves of Alex's body, raising her chin to give Alex the angle she was searching for. "Fuck, Piper. Yes…right there. FUCK." Alex threw her left hand forward to the wall, leveraging enough to bear down even further onto Piper's face.

She curled her tongue and opened her jaw, allowing her to reach just a little further. Alex jerked and rocked above her. Piper clamped her hands down around the outsides of Alex's thighs, bracing her center down against her own face and moaned loud into her kiss. Alex came hard in her mouth. If she hadn't had such a firm hold on those hips, she thought for sure Alex would have collapsed forward into the wall behind them.

Alex's body continued to spasm above her. The sounds coming from her mouth were loud and incoherent. When Piper opened her eyes to the sight of Alex in the throes of climax, a fresh rush of heat flooded between her legs: black hair matted to her chest...stomach muscles seizing and straining against the skin over them...breath mixing with moans that shook her violently...whole body dripping with sweat...

It was the hottest thing Piper had seen in her entire fucking life.

**30 January 2020, 2200 EST**

"I'm fucking starving."

Alex hadn't uttered any actual words for quite some time, though she had communicated a lot pretty clearly, she thought. She lay sprawled on her side next to Piper. She'd fallen there when she lost feeling in her feet after one of the most impressive orgasms of her life – maybe the most impressive actually. She couldn't remember a time when extremities actually went numb. Every muscle in her body tingled and twitched after the exertion of indulgence.

They'd been lying there for a while recovering. Sex was a spectrum in Alex's mind. There was _making love_ on the one end, _having sex_ right in the middle, and _straight-up fucking_ at the other end. Though there was nothing straight about what they just did, that was 100% _fucking_. When she had looked down to see Piper's face smeared over completely and buried between her legs, she felt like the king of the goddamn world.

"And _that_ ," she turned to look at Piper, who was gloating with as smug of a look as one could manage with their face covered in cum. "…was fucking amazing. God, you look good with me all over you." Alex kissed her slowly, gratefully. She wanted Piper to know how just how amazing she really thought that was.

Piper returned the kiss and the complement, "You look good all over me. Seeing you sitting on my face like that was the hottest fucking thing I've ever seen. I almost came again just watching you."

Alex chuckled against her cheek. "Let's shower and eat."

Piper smirked and asked, "Shower? Or _shower_?" Her voice changed dramatically from one word of her question to the next.

"I'm starving!. I need to refuel." Alex stood and reached a hand out.

Piper took the assist and pressed her body immediately against Alex's after standing upright. She remained in the embrace for a few seconds before backing up to look Alex in the eye. "So you're going to keep your hands off me then?"

Alex took a deep breath in through her nose and lowered her chin. "I will _try._ "

The look on her face twenty minutes later was anything but sincere when she claimed, "I really did try." Alex checked her hip against Pipers as they stood side by side in front of the bathroom mirror toweling off their hair. Alex had lasted all of four minutes watching Piper's hands run all over her wet, naked body before pinning her to the wall and fucking her from behind.

"Trust me, I'm not complaining but I _am_ questioning how hungry you actually are." Piper caught Alex's eye in the reflection of the mirror before moving her eyes over the muscled curves on full display beside her.

Alex's eyes went straight between Piper's legs. "I could live a long damn time with you as my only sustenance."

"Please." Piper shoved her arm and walked out of the bathroom. "I should go over and grab some clothes."

"Don't bother." Alex called from the bathroom, still working through her damp hair with a comb.

Piper's face appeared in the doorway, "Alex, seriously."

Alex turned to face her. "I'm just gonna take them off again." She placed a kiss on Piper's cheek and a hand on her ass as she left the bathroom. "Seriously."

How she managed to eat her sandwich and crunch through her chips with Piper sitting totally naked on the sofa, Alex didn't know. Very little time was spent on dinner before Alex climbed back into the bed and held the sheets open for Piper to slip in beside her. They folded together like two puzzle pieces interlocking under the covers, legs tangled up and arms pulling each other closer with every breath.

Alex played with her hair, reveling in the feeling of Piper's breath whisking over her neck. "Hey," she ventured in a rare show of timidity.

"Hmm?" Piper's response was soft and her arm tightened the tiniest bit around Alex's stomach.

"Before, when you said it's always been me?" Alex knew there was more behind Piper's statement in the heat of the moment and the words didn't reconcile with the way she had left without a trace that morning so many years ago.

Piper lifted herself up on her forearm and looked into her eyes. She drew a finger in drowsy swirls over Alex's jaw line. "I meant it. That night with you changed everything for me. I didn't fully realize it at the time but it didn't take me long."

Alex smiled, listening intently.

"I was in a dead-end relationship, which I promptly ended because I couldn't go back to him after feeling what I felt with you. I thought it was the girl thing but then I realized it was the _you_ thing." Piper's face held no hint of embarrassment or awkwardness.

Alex's eyebrows lifted and a smirk snuck into the corner of her smile.

"I wished I would have left my number or gotten yours – even your last name would have given me something to go on to find you again. Ultimately, I was just really grateful to you for showing me how much more there was to experience with another person. Seeing you again…it's a second chance I never thought I'd get." The honesty and vulnerability that enveloped every word she said left Alex uncharacteristically speechless.

After several seconds, Alex decided words weren't necessary for the message she wanted to convey. She pulled Piper in to a strong, fervent kiss that didn't stop until it became moans and mutterings of each other's names as they found each other again.

Soon, Alex lay blissfully sated under a sleeping pile of Piper. Her right arm and right leg draped possessively across Alex's naked body. Alex couldn't help but smile at how perfectly her face fit nestled into her shoulder. She absent-mindedly ran her fingers through blonde strands, tenderly stroking the woman's hair before kissing the crown of her head. She let out a thoughtful sigh and said softly, "Please don't run away this time."

* * *


	8. It's Not so Bad

**31 January 2020 0610 EST**

A distant pounding sound shook Alex from a deep sleep. The room was black and when she reached out a hand toward the bedside table in search of her glasses, her face found a head of hair instead. A smile lit her face even in the darkness of the early hour as she realized where she was and who was in her bed.

The pounding intensified and a muffled, familiar voice called through her door, "Vause! Wake up and answer the door!"

"Shit," Alex muttered as she slid out from behind Piper as stealthily as possible, trying not to wake her. She managed to locate her glasses and a shirt as she tried not to trip over their discarded articles of clothing. The room smelled like sex and potato chips. Alex couldn't help but smile as snapshots of the night before started flashing through her mind like a slideshow. She pulled her blouse closed with one hand and cracked the door with the other.

"Yeah?" She squinted at the light in the hall and made out Washington's serious expression staring back at her. She was wearing glasses, which was a first. And her eyes looked almost as tired as Alex was sure her own did. She was wearing sweats and a zip-up hoodie, clearly just out of bed herself.

"We need you upstairs, STAT. New info has come in from the Roosevelt. It's not good." She turned across the hall to bang on Piper's door before remarking, "Chapman must be out hard. I've been knocking for like five minutes."

Poussey spun around like lightening when a sleepy voice behind Alex called, "Alex? What's going on?"

Poussey's eyes widened before she rolled out a slow nod. "Arrite. Nice, Vause."

Alex raised an eyebrow and tried feebly to hide the smile on her face.

"Get your asses dressed and upstairs." As the door was shutting, Poussey threw her hand out to catch it, causing Alex's eyes to dart up. Poussey threw her head in the direction over Alex's shoulder. "I fucking called that shit." She winked before returning to her initial serious tone. "POTUS is calling in 15."

Alex nodded in acknowledgement and the door closed, simultaneously stunned and amused. She turned on the bathroom light, hoping to provide Piper with a less shocking start to the day at least for a few seconds. She sat down on the bed opposite the beautifully disheveled face and placed a delicate kiss on her lips. "Good morning." Alex stood and began the process of finding her clothes. "Washington knows, something important happened, and your dad is calling in 15 minutes. We need to get upstairs."

Piper leapt from her position on the bed still totally naked, causing Alex's eyes to helplessly track her bare ass until it disappeared through the bathroom door. "Fuck." The same word simultaneously fell from both sets of lips but for entirely different reasons.

* * *

When the two women walked in to the lab thirteen minutes later, there was no indication of anything but professionalism between them. Piper went straight to the coffee machine and thanked Poussey when she saw that it had already been started.

"Mmmhmm. Thought you might need it." She jabbed with a smile at Piper, who returned the comment with an eye roll but the heat rushing through her cheeks revealed much more embarrassment than annoyance.

"The call will be patched through on these screens?" Piper moved the conversation swiftly to the incoming call from the White House and stood behind the table next to Alex while Poussey turned back to her computer.

"Yeah…coming up now."

Her father's face appeared on the large screen in front of the three women. "Good morning, ladies. Thank you for assembling so quickly. I'm afraid I have bad news. I'll let Bob fill you in." He looked to his left where the Secretary of Defense sat forward in his chair with his elbows on his knees.

"Dr. Chapman." The Secretary acknowledged her with a quick nod. "We received a communication 30 minutes ago from the USS Roosevelt that indicates the Chinese have accelerated their timeline and have already deployed the virus via several infected individuals."

Piper's spine stiffened. She took in a sharp breath, mentally ordering her face to remain neutral.

"We have credible intelligence that the infected are a group of university students that went missing eight days ago. We're currently in the process of locating these individuals are and determining exactly how many 'Patient Zeroes' we're dealing with."

Piper felt Alex's index finger curl around her pinky for a few seconds under the table and out of sight from anyone in the room. Just the consideration in that gesture filled her with unexpected poise in the face of this devastating development.

"I expect this information within the next hour and will keep you up to speed with the developments as they happen. We need your containment plans as soon as possible."

She nodded at the screen. "Thank you, Mr. Secretary. We'll finalize them now."

The President spoke again, "We're counting on you."

The chorus of "Yes, Sir." Filled the room as all three women responded before the screen went blank.

Poussey was the first to speak. "Well, fuck."

Piper straightened and met eyes first with Washington to her right and then Alex to her left. Her tone was steady and she knew exactly what to do next. "This is it. Ready?"

* * *

The next 45 minutes flew by in a blur as the team reviewed several models Piper had created several days prior. Containment of the spread was critical, as was providing secure locations to quarantine individuals who had been exposed. Piper had laid out plans for both in dizzying detail and requested critical review from the two other women.

Poussey and Alex fired every question they could think of at her, putting the nuances of the plan through the gauntlet of their collective expertise. Several points were clarified and a few additional tweaks were made to the timeline but overall, Piper had thought of nearly everything.

When she was satisfied, she picked up the receiver by the door and requested a call to the Secretary of Defense. "Tell him we're ready."

Poussey announced that a video call was coming through on the monitors. All three women turned their attention to the wall. Piper arranged the documents spread out over the meeting table in preparation to outline her strategies to the White House. She was expecting to see Bob's face when the picture connected. To her surprise, her father's was the face looking back at her.

"Piper, I want you to present your plans to the Joint Chiefs in person. A helicopter is already en route and will be there to pick you up within the hour." His eyes moved to the other two women in the room. "This task force has done outstanding work. You've provided invaluable information and we would be nowhere near as prepared for this without your efforts. Thank you for your service, Dr. Vause and Ms. Washington. Your country is in your debt."

Piper's mind began to race. This was a significant turn of events requiring her to quickly reframe the situation. Realization mingled with a fresh surge of adrenaline flooded her veins. One after another, her brain arranged a mess of disjointed facts, connecting them in a string of meaning she wasn't willing to accept.

They were done here. Her father was effectively dissolving the team and summoning her to DC at the outset of what could very possibly be a pandemic that might alter the landscape of human life on this planet beyond recognition. And Alex…what about Alex? They'd just found each other again. They'd just begun. She couldn't bear the thought of getting on a helicopter alone with no guarantees, no plan, no Alex. She couldn't do it. She wouldn't do it. All these thoughts flew through her mind in seconds and before her brain thought better of it, her mouth gave voice to the paramount focus of her heart.

"Alex."

Every eye in the room and on the screen landed squarely on her as she looked straight into the camera connecting her eyes with her father's. "I need Alex with me in DC."

Her father tilted his head ever so slightly in a questioning tick. Beside her, Alex shifted her weight to the opposing foot, setting her jaw and looking to the floor. Piper knew she was pushing the limits of her latitude in this situation. She lowered her chin and though she felt her eyes begin to glass with rising emotion, she kept them steady on the camera before her.

"Dad. Please."

She offered no further explanation than the pleading look in her eyes. For several seemingly endless seconds, the room was frozen and silent – waiting for the President's response.

The President blinked and lowered his head in a quick nod. "Whatever you need, Piper." He turned to his Chief of Staff out of the camera's field of vision and nodded a silent instruction that would facilitate the necessary arrangements for an additional passenger.

All three women released a heavy breath as relief flooded Piper's countenance. She waited for her father's eyes to return to the camera before offering a quiet, "Thank you."

The call ended and again, Poussey was the first to speak. "Damn, Chapman. That was fucking ballsy. And awesome."

Alex looked at Piper and shook her head. Her face showed nothing but shock. While she knew upon reflection that her gutsy request could have easily…likely… _probably_ resulted in a very different outcome, it honestly hadn't occurred to Piper to behave any differently in the moment.

"I can't believe you just did that." Alex's eyes were wide. One hand moved to her forehead and the other to her hip.

Piper was well past discretion; especially given the gravity of the situation and the fact that Poussey already knew she and Alex were more than colleagues. Not to mention the fact that as of about three minutes prior, the three of them were no longer co-workers.

She stepped boldly toward Alex and kissed her. "I'm not going anywhere without you." She looked deeply into the green eyes before her, watching them move through a quick succession of emotion. Shock, realization, appreciation, and finally admiration. Piper hadn't known Alex to be so transparent to this point but there was no mistaking what was happening in that moment. "Not anymore."

The energy in the room accelerated quickly in the presence of their impending departure. She turned to Poussey. "I'll call you with whatever I know as soon as I know it. Make sure you and Chantel have a plan just in case."

"Yeah. Yeah, alright." Washington nodded. "Take care of yourselves."

Piper felt Alex's hand on her back, a signal she knew meant they had to move. "You too, Poussey. It's been a pleasure. Thank you."

Alex nodded to her and extended a hand. "Stay safe."

"Yeah, Vause. You too." She shook Alex's hand and looked back and forth between the two women. "It's been an honor to work with you both. Next time, better circumstances, okay?"

All three women smiled their agreement but the weightiness of the moment prevailed over the intended pleasantries. Alex's hand returned to the small of Piper's back and they left the war room for the last time.

* * *

Piper's hand was clammy in hers as they walked to the elevator. Neither spoke. Alex was trying to recall the state of her room when she last left it several hours ago. She was getting used to packing up her life on a moment's notice. Without knowing exactly when the chopper would arrive, she assumed she probably had ten minutes to shove all her shit in a bag.

When they crossed the elevator's threshold, she pushed the third button from the top and took Piper's hand again. "Hey."

Those deep blue eyes lifted to meet hers. They were filled with thoughts yet unspoken but Alex needed to voice hers first. "Thank you."

An emotional smile seized Piper's features and stretched the corners of her mouth wide. "If you think I'm letting you out of my sight until we know what the hell is going on, you're out of your damn mind, Alex Vause."

The elevator chime joined in their shared chuckling, announcing the end of the brief pause in their rush to ready themselves for departure. When they reached their doorways, she pulled Piper in for a quick kiss. "Give me five minutes."

Piper nodded and disappeared into her room. Flicking on the light, Alex couldn't help but smile at the uncharacteristic disarray of her room. They had left like bats out of hell that morning and it showed.

She pulled her duffel out from the bottom of the closet and put it in the middle of the bed. She started throwing items into it, confident that at some point, she would be able to find a place to launder her limited wardrobe. Most of her clothes were dirty anyway. The only clean suit she had left was the one she was wearing.

As she packed, her thoughts turned to Piper. She was acutely aware of the shift happening inside her. What had started as a purely (albeit profound) physical attraction had incrementally morphed into something far more consequential. Even though it was an unfamiliar feeling to her, Alex knew exactly what it was.

She had tried to ignore it for several days, ineffectually attempting to convince herself that the connection with Piper was simply sexual. But she knew all along that this front was a crock of shit. She was falling for Piper and she couldn't help it. Every smile sent another shoot from the vine wrapping quickly around her heart. The feeling of being overtaken by such a foreign aura both scared and beckoned her.

She could only assume that Piper's actions on the call with her father indicated that she returned the sentiment. Surely she wouldn't have done that if she weren't feeling the same pull. Alex knew that her window for changing course was rapidly closing but rather than panic and a desire to run, the overriding emotion she identified was excitement and perhaps most surprising to her…the desire to stay.

Five minutes later, she was knocking on the door opposite hers. "It's me," she announced, not wanting Piper to think her packing time was up.

Piper opened the door and gave her a quick smile. "I'm nearly done." She turned into the bathroom and tossed the remaining few items from the counter into a toiletry bag and walked it over to her larger suitcase. "I never really unpack anything when I travel."

"How can I help?" Alex didn't like standing idly while others worked around her.

Piper pointed to a tote on the bed. "Will you grab my charger and that stuff on the bedside table and just throw it in there, please?" She closed the laptop on the desk and stacked several folders on top of it before sliding it across the bed toward the same tote. "Those can go in the sleeve."

She shrugged her shoulders into the blazer that had been draped over the desk chair and zipped the roller bag closed.

Alex reached for the bag, setting it on the floor and pulling up the handle. "I got it." She smiled and handed the packed tote to a grinning Piper.

The knock on the door told them it was time.

"Ready?" She tilted her head toward the door, letting Piper walk ahead.

Two men in full black suits waited for them at the door along with an agent Alex recognized from the day she arrived at the facility. He was already holding Alex's duffle that she'd left in the hall. "Is this everything, Ma'am?"

Alex stood with her messenger bag slung across her body and Piper's roller beside her. Piper adjusted her bag on her shoulder and nodded. "We're good," Alex confirmed.

He nodded and set out down the hall in a quick stride. The women followed, flanked just behind by the two men Alex guessed were likely Secret Service. This was not at all how she envisioned her day playing out when she first opened her eyes that morning.

As they silently rode the elevator to the roof, Alex's fingers found Piper's in a gentle display of presence. She squeezed the fingers between hers tenderly. She just wanted Piper to know that she wasn't alone. The two hadn't discussed what had happened in the lab but the reality of everything Alex _didn't_ know about Piper's ability to cope with the tremendous stress of this situation was weighing on her mind.

When the elevator stopped its ascent, Piper looked at her in the split second before the doors opened. As if she could sense Alex's concerns, she mouthed a silent reassurance, _I'm ok._

As soon as the doors opened, the deafening oscillation of helicopter blades drowned out every thought in Alex's head. The gusts of wind off of the daunting machine still took her breath away. The agents on either side of the women synchronously placed a hand on each woman's head encouraging them to lower their bodies as they approached the chopper.

Once on board, the agents handed them each a headset. A woman already seated in the chopper spoke as soon as they were situated. "Good morning, Drs. I'm Anna Watson, Deputy Chief of Staff. We have just under an hour for this ride. I'll be walking you through what to expect when we arrive at the White House. This will happen pretty fast but I'll get you where you need to be."

Watson gave the rundown Alex expected for the next 30 minutes. As she was wrapping up, she asked, "Is there anything you need when we arrive? I've been tasked with making sure you're ready with whatever is required so if you can think of anything that would be helpful to you, now is the time to speak up."

Piper responded almost immediately, "I don't know about Dr. Vause, but this is my last clean set of clothes." Watson nodded and made a note in the binder on her lap. Piper continued, "I also need some orange juice and a protein bar or something."

"Done." Watson turned her attention to Alex who, was still trying to recover from the completely unexpected, completely _arousing_ impact hearing the words 'Doctor Vause' come so naturally from Piper's mouth. She was trying to stay focused on the dire situation they all found themselves in but she was having a tremendously hard time keeping her thoughts out of Piper's pants.

She cleared her throat and blinked away the filthy images from her mind. "Yeah. Same, thanks." She was relieved when the pilot's voice came crackling through her headset announcing their descent to the rooftop of the most recognizable house in the world.

Alex looked out the window and shook her head. She couldn't believe she was about to be ushered into the White House. "Unbelievable." She didn't realize she'd said it out loud until Piper took her hand and turned to meet her eyes.

"I know."


	9. You're Only The Best I Ever Had

Watson wasn't exaggerating about the pace events unfolded upon their arrival. Piper barely had time to down the bottle of juice and half the protein bar that a random staffer handed to her as she and Alex were whisked through the maze of White House hallways.

"This is as far as you go, Dr. Vause." Watson slowed the trio to a halt. "I will show you to the guest quarters in the East Wing where you can make yourself comfortable while Dr. Chapman briefs the Joint Chiefs."

Alex nodded and gave Piper's upper arm a squeeze before encouraging her, "You've got this, kid. See you soon."

They had stopped just shy of a secure steel door flanked by Secret Service on each side. Anna turned to face Piper. "POTUS will be…sorry… _The President_ will be arriving in less than ten minutes. Good luck."

With that, Alex and Anna were gone and Piper turned to face the intimidating entrance. She stepped forward with much more confidence than she felt. The agent to the right of the door opened it and held it for her to pass through. "Ma'am."

The Situation Room was exactly like she'd seen on TV. The energy in the air was electric and threatened to overwhelm her senses but the almost familiar appearance of the room mitigated the stress of the moment. She was seated at the table with the decision-makers of the country.

When the door opened, everyone in the room stood to acknowledge the President's arrival. Piper had already leafed through her folder, double-checked that everything was in order and reviewed the high level details of her proposal.

Her father sat down. "Thanks, everyone."

With everyone seated, he extended his hand toward Piper, "I've asked Dr. Chapman to walk us through her proposed plans for containment. The primary objective is to keep this virus out of the country. Dr. Chapman, the floor is yours."

Piper thanked her father and looked around the table. "Each of you have a copy of my notes. As an overarching statement, in order for the virus to remain outside the general population, a massive and total closure of the borders is required."

She looked over at the Defense Secretary while several heads tilted around the table. A few shook their heads outright. This piece of the equation was not under Piper's purview but was integral in order for the subsequent precautions to be effective. She knew it was an extreme measure – perhaps the most extreme measure available – but this was an unprecedented situation. "This proposal begins in conjunction with that effort and outlines the steps I believe are necessary once that lockdown is in place."

She moved quickly through the information on the first page in her hand. "No American citizen leaves the country for any reason. Air and sea travel in to the US must be stopped other than critical personnel and cargo. Everyone – and I mean EVERYONE returning to the US from travel abroad must be quarantined for 14 days before being cleared to enter. This quarantine effort will be massive and difficult. Here's how it can work."

Piper presented their options for quarantine sites at 20 different points of entry along the American borders. She proposed closure of all international airport terminals except ten coastal locations and rerouting all incoming flights to those. Likewise, ten seaports would still be open for priority shipping but each point of entry would be a closed environment in which a skeleton staff of essential employees would remain on site until the threat of infection was neutralized.

When she moved to the treatment phase of the proposal, intrigue in the room noticeably ticked up. "Currently, 22 fully equipped cruise ships are docked in various ports. I propose we convert these vessels into offshore treatment centers for those who present symptoms during the quarantine period. They would essentially be floating hospitals maintaining quarantine status, fully equipped and staffed to care for those who need it."

Piper was wrapping up the high level details of the plan. "Priority one is providing a safe and comfortable place for people returning to the States to wait out the 14 day incubation period without symptoms. Second, we need to get the people who are travelling abroad with the intention to return stateside as soon as possible. This will be in initial influx of people but it will quickly taper as people get their feet back on American soil. Does anyone have any questions at this point?"

As soon as she asked the question, four hands shot up into the air. At the same time, a uniformed officer interrupted the meeting. "Mr. President, incoming video call from Master Chief Caputo aboard the USS Roosevelt. He says it's urgent, Sir."

President Chapman steepled his fingers over his mouth and leaned forward in his chair. "Put him on the monitor."

The large screen on the wall at the far end of the table flashed several times as the picture stabilized. Master Chief Caputo's face filled the monitor. His face looked ragged, like he hadn't slept in days. "Mr. President."

"Master Chief, you're on with the Joint Chiefs. What do you have?"

Caputo's voice was hurried, "Sir, we have credible information that the missing college students were placed aboard a small cruise ship five days ago headed for Incheon, South Korea. The ship was scheduled to dock there four hours ago."

Caputo's eyes darted to the left as someone out of the camera shot called, "Coming up, Sir."

"We have a live feed being established from the Port Authority in Incheon. That will come through to you momentarily - as soon as we have it, so will you. The ship's arrival was delayed but we don't know for how long. If the disembarkation process has begun, we will consider the virus released and every person on the ship's manifest a carrier."

"Jesus Christ." It was unclear who muttered it aloud but every face in the room shared the same shocked sentiment.

Piper began furiously scribbling notes on a legal pad. The occupants of the room went into calm, calculated action immediately.

The Defense Secretary turned to his accompanying aide, "Get a feed from Icheon's international airport terminal on this screen right now."

Another man at the table turned to Frank Griffin who was already moving toward the door. "We need that manifest."

A second screen flashed to life on the wall. The cruise ship wasn't large but Piper guessed its capacity at upwards of 3,500 people. It was docked and all the ramps were lowered. The only person visible on the screen was a man sweeping the pier. Piper's eyes fixated on the sweeper as the buzz in the room around her escalated. The ship was empty. They were too late.

Another unidentified voice muttered the room's collective response, "Fuck."

A third monitor illuminated with a quadruple feed divided over the screen. Crowded walkways and hundreds of people filled the international terminal of Icheon's airport.

"Get me President Jae-In on the line. This airport needs to shut down." The President demanded. "And where is that manifest?"

As if on cue, Frank offered a folder over the President's shoulder. "Defense is tracking down the destinations."

Bill Chapman quickly scanned the documents. "3,182 souls were aboard the vessel. One hundred fifty two are booked on flights today. Fifty-nine of them are on 26 different planes already in the air. Thirteen Americans." Before he'd even finished speaking, the Secretary of Defense handed him a list with destinations of those flights.

Piper watched the scene unfold before her in slow motion. Twenty-six planes were in the air carrying potentially infected people from South Korea to destinations around the globe. An unknown number of carriers remained in the airport or were already mingling among the South Korean populace. Her eyes returned to the monitors on the wall.

From the corner of the room, someone informed her father that President Jae-In was connected for him.

"Have him stand by," Chapman barked. "When I'm through with South Korea, I want the leaders of every nation on that list on the line BEFORE those planes land."

Piper turned to her father, speaking up with strength and conviction filling her lungs. "Mr. President." She had his attention but she knew she couldn't keep it for long. "The only way to keep this out of the country is to lock it down completely." She held up the folder in front of her for emphasis. "None of this works unless you shut it down."

President Chapman nodded and looked to his Chief of Staff, "I need an executive order to close the borders and deploy military support to points of entry."

He looked to two other faces seated at the table. "Get the National Guard, FEMA and the Red Cross briefed with Piper's plan and mobilized. Consider her outline your marching orders and make it happen to the letter."

The next face to garner his attention was the Defense Secretary. "Total lockdown. Do it."

Within a matter of seconds, the bodies around the table scattered with their respective tasks. Anna Watson suddenly appeared beside Piper. "Dr. Chapman, let's move to the conference room and get you set up to oversee this effort."

The President was still sitting at the table. Piper assumed he would take the call with the South Korean President as soon as the room cleared. He stood as Piper and Watson moved toward the door to his left. He placed a gentle hand on her arm, taking a few seconds before she was gone. "Piper, I have the guest quarters set up. You'll have whatever you need. I want you here."

Piper placed her hand over his and gave it an affirming squeeze. "Thanks, Dad."

She stopped briefly in the door and turned her head just in time to hear her father clear the connection with the South Korean President.

"Patch him through."

* * *

Piper spent the remainder of the afternoon in a conference room consulting with representatives from every pertinent government agency involved in disaster relief. She worked with everyone in the room to assign roles, set timelines and establish jurisdictions for all the players on this unprecedented field. By the end of the day, the execution of her containment strategy was well underway and her responsibility fulfilled.

She thanked each individual as they filed out of the conference room. After the last handshake she turned to face Anna Watson, the only other person in left in the room. "What now?"

Watson smiled. "Now, I show you to your room. Your job is done. Now it's up to them to make it happen. You'll need to be available to field questions and troubleshoot as obstacles come up but the bulk of that work will be done on the ground. I know where to find you if I need to."

Piper's physical body had charged with adrenaline since the moment she opened her eyes that morning. The fatigue of her prolonged heightened state was quickly closing in on her. She sat back against the conference table and lowered her head to take a few deep breaths.

When she straightened again several seconds later, she had only one question left. "Where's Alex?"

Anna moved toward the door. "Follow me, Dr. Chapman."

* * *

A quick succession of knocks on the door startled Alex out of the pages of the novel sitting on her lap. "Come in," she called as she stood up, not really sure if she was supposed to answer the door or not.

She'd spent the last five hours in the East Wing of the White House trying to occupy her mind with anything to pass the time. An hour after parting with Piper, Anna Watson had stopped briefly to inform her that the containment plan was rolling out immediately and though Piper would return to the room as soon as possible, it would likely be several hours. She knew that if the rollout was starting now, something major had happened to launch that sequence of events.

Between surfing every news outlet to see how much information was being released to the media (nothing yet), calling her mom to 'check in' while trying to act normal and finally getting into the book she'd tried to start three times previously, she managed to keep her mind on something other than Piper's wellbeing and the impending disaster.

When she saw Piper cross the threshold of the guest quarters, relief and concern battled in her chest. Piper looked small, spent and strangely serene. Alex walked quickly to her and took the bag from over her shoulder, tossing it onto the chair adjacent to the door. She resisted the urge to pepper her with questions, choosing a slower approach.

"Hey." She wrapped her arms around Piper, who all but melted into the embrace.

Alex said nothing for a full minute, giving Piper the space to just breathe and be quiet for what Alex guessed might have been the first time all day. She felt the slow expanding and releasing of Piper's chest against hers. Their hearts beat steadily against each other, oddly calm in the midst of a situation that was anything but. Piper didn't move to break the hug. She just spoke against Alex's shoulder. "Hi."

"You wanna talk?" Alex was internally buzzing with questions. She definitely wanted to know what was going on, but more pressing than the events swirling chaos into the world outside their room, she wanted to know how the woman in her arms was feeling about it all.

Piper didn't release her hands from around Alex's waist when she moved her head back to place her cheek against Alex's. "I want to shower. Then I want to eat. Then I want to talk about it."

"Ok." She placed a soft kiss on Piper's forehead and squeezed her gently before releasing her.

Thirty minutes later, Piper tossed a napkin onto the empty plate Watson had arranged to be sent up and leaned against the back of the couch next to her. Alex shifted against the arm of the sofa and bent her leg up to create space for Piper to occupy. "Get over here," she said playfully and motioned her over.

Piper smiled before sliding her back up against Alex's chest and reclining into her arms. "My head is spinning with everything that's happened in the past 24 hours."

Alex let the fingers of her left hand weave lazily between locks of blonde hair as she listened. "I mean…it's just surreal. My dad. The Situation Room. The whole country is in the process of being turned into Fort Knox. It's just crazy. I spent the afternoon briefing a room full of people on our plan and now I guess they're just going to go make it happen. Watson said I'm basically done other than being available to troubleshoot if something major goes wrong with the rollout." She released a heavy sigh and shifted slightly, tucking in closer to Alex and turning her face toward the neck behind her.

"And…" Piper found her other hand and laced their fingers together. "Us."

Alex pulled the arm around Piper's stomach a little tighter, acknowledging the hesitation she heard in those last two words. She said the first thing that came to her mind, "I like _us_."

Piper turned in her arms to look at her. Her eyes were wide, full of life and spark again. "Yeah?"

She tilted her head with a sweet smile. "Yeah."

The kiss started innocently enough but she quickly realized Piper was unsatisfied keeping it there. Their bodies pressed together with her hands resting around the small of Piper's back. She sighed contentedly at the soft touch of hands against her face and neck. She felt Piper's tongue curl against her upper lip and opened her mouth happily, matching Piper's movements and slipping her tongue over the other woman's in a delicious tease.

They made out on the couch for several minutes before wandering hands and shortness of breath demanded escalation. "Let me take you to bed," Alex managed around Piper's insatiable mouth against her own.

Piper only stopped momentarily but it was enough for Alex to push up from her lowered position and find adequate leverage to stand. She pulled Piper to her feet and kissed her hard, clearly communicating her intention to direct their next several minutes together.

She pulled the T-shirt Piper had chosen after her shower over her head. Piper's bare breasts reacted immediately to the sudden exposure. Alex's eyes locked on to the stiffened tips but she refrained from touching them. She took a small step back.

"Take off your pants."

It was a request, not a demand, but the depth of her voice left no room for any response other than compliance. When Piper's yoga pants settled on the floor, she stood completely naked in front of Alex's adoring eyes.

"You are fucking gorgeous."

Alex took several patient seconds to regard her. There was nothing but admiration in her eyes and Piper met her gaze with confidence.

"Turn around. To the bedroom." She licked her lips at the sight of Piper's naked body, knowing that in a few seconds, she would be finished looking and would let her mouth take over the job of showing Piper just how irresistible she was.

By the time she crossed the room to join Piper in bed, Alex had stripped herself down to nothing. She lowered her body over Piper's slowly, savoring every inch of their touching skin. She kissed the corner of Piper's mouth reverently before beginning the agonizing journey to the target she could almost taste already.

Piper's hands moved rapidly over Alex's head and shoulders, her fingernails faintly scratching down Alex's back in a tantalizing tickle that elicited a delighted groan from deep in her throat.

She responded by closing her mouth around the peak of a small, soft breast. Piper squirmed and twisted under Alex's mouth, feeling the smooth stroke of her tongue dip and dance over her sensitive nipple.

Alex was delighted with how responsive Piper was to attention on her breasts. She stayed there for several minutes, licking, sucking and leaving light bites over the tender flesh before moving to the other side to repeat the gratifying agony. Piper became increasingly flustered, moaning her name and scratching her scalp with less and less control over her own reactions.

Alex smiled and considered how intense Piper's arousal was when she hadn't even touched her any lower yet. Her hands had stayed dutifully planted on the bed to either side of Piper's hips. She had no intention of using her hands for this anyway.

By the time she released Piper's other nipple, nothing intelligible was coming out of her mouth. Murmurs and moans escaped unhindered from Piper's lips and her hips rolled upward, begging for contact. Alex felt the warmth of Piper's center sliding against her stomach and grinned as she remembered the previous night, happy this time to be in a superior position.

"You're into that, aren't you…covering my abs." Her voice was gravelly and deep. She wasn't sure Piper was capable of responding with words and was surprised when a fairly coherent sentence tumbled out.

"Oh my God, your abs."

Alex managed a chuckle as she continued her descent down Piper's body. She drug her tongue slowly over her stomach placing intermittent, wet kisses every few inches. When she reached the soft tuft of hair just above Piper's slit, she couldn't contain a moan at the scent of her.

"You smell so fucking good."

She licked and kissed at the skin just above where she really wanted to be, making a show of it for Piper, who had lifted herself up on her elbows to watch Alex work.

"Alex…" She whined and rolled her hips again but Alex continued her withholding, her talented tongue just out of reach. She stopped only to speak, which was just as alluring as the other activities her mouth was engaged in.

"I want you so wet that you fill my mouth."

Piper hummed desperately on the verge of a sob. She kissed the crease where Piper's left thigh met her hips, dragging her teeth hungrily over it before speaking again.

"I want to swallow you over and over."

Mumbling and chanting her name, Piper dropped her head back and let her voice fade into a pleading drone. Alex repeated the torment on the opposite side before she just couldn't wait another second.

"I want it all."

She covered the length of Piper's slit with her open mouth, plunging her tongue between slick folds and licking as much of the sweet, salty result of her incessant torture as she could gather. She couldn't get enough. Her tongue surged and swirled into every hidden space along with grateful moans that set Piper's clit buzzing.

She wasn't initially focused on Piper's pleasure as much as indulging her own desire to taste her. It didn't seem to matter, though. Piper's voice exploded at the contact, sobbing out a grab bag of single syllable words to communicate the effect Alex's mouth was creating as she shamelessly took what she needed.

Rush after rush of warmth covered Alex's greedy tongue as Piper came undone beneath her. She took everything Piper had to give with appreciative moans, drawing every last drop from the earth shattering climax happening courtesy of her face. She sucked gently at Piper's clit as the waves of pleasure subsided into an occasional flutter on her tongue.

Before long, Piper dropped back flat onto the mattress and motioned for Alex to come closer. She crawled up to envelope Piper in a protective embrace, inviting her to cuddle her face into her chest. The laid there silently, finding a calm rhythm of breath between them. Several minutes passed before Piper spoke softly over the skin covering her chest.

"Everything is so scary out there, Alex."

She breathed deeply, pulling Piper close and kissing her hair. "I know."

Piper pressed her lips against Alex's chest before continuing, "But I feel safe here. With you. This feels safe to me."

Alex knew the future was full of unknowns. She knew very little about what challenges and obstacles the next days and weeks would bring their way. She couldn't predict outcomes or guarantee the course of events. But the deep resonance she felt under Piper's words stoked the fires of affection building in her heart. The uncertainties surrounding them were real but the surety of their shared connection in that moment overshadowed every impending fear. She buried her face into Piper's hair and tightened her hold around the woman she was falling hard for.

"Me too, babe. Me too. "

_THE END_


End file.
